deardevil wrote:
This is exactly the level of experience and the type of season that I was hoping Saliba would return from when his loan spell ended. He's never been in better condition to join the squad and stake a claim for a first team spot. CB is the only position which requires a level of maturity, tactical nous and experience that isn't demanded elsewhere on the pitch. Mistakes are almost always punishable and it would have been a gamble to play him through his mistakes when the pressure to perform is so high here and he had so little experience. I just hope the relationship between him and Arteta isn't irreparably damaged.
That's the crux of tha matter for me. The whole issue people had with the Saliba situation is the way it was all handled.
Even ignoring the fact that, similar to Saliba, White himself had very little experience in the top flight himself and was learning on the job with us, loaning him out isn't a big deal. Neither was buying White when we had Saliba (as long as it didn't prevent us from spending that money in more pressing positions).
What is an issue is they way we pulled him back from his original loan right before he had a Cup Final, that we brought him back and kept him without registering him for any of the competitions and instead playing with the youth team for 6 months, only to loan him out in January. then proceeding to give his number away. It doesn't speak to an atmosphere where everything being done was to prepare Saliba for the PL and ensure he comes back ready to go.
It has always felt like there was more at play than just trying to get Saliba some experience. Can't help but consider that maybr the issues with Saliba and Pepe stem from the fact that they were the marquee signings of the previous regime under Emery and Arteta is trying to prove something.
