One Arsenal player has revealed his private conversation with Mikel Arteta after he felt he was ‘soft’ in training.
The Spaniard has become one of the best managers in the world. He is truly incredible and the way he has transformed Arsenal in recent years has been nothing short of magnificent.
Arteta has played a massive part in helping many players with their development. Some of them have become ‘world-class’ under him.
Now, one Arsenal star has revealed how Arteta helped him behind the scenes.
William Saliba shares what Mikel Arteta told him when he was ‘soft’ in training
Arsenal signed William Saliba from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2019, when Unai Emery was still at the club.
The Frenchman was viewed by many as one of the best young centre-backs in world football at the time, but Arteta wasn’t convinced by him after he returned from his first loan spell.
The Arsenal manager sent him out on loan two more times – first to OGC Nice and then to Marseille. Saliba performed brilliantly at both clubs.
Arteta finally gave him an opportunity on the opening day of the 2022/23 season, and Saliba has been one of the first names on the team sheet since.
The 23-year-old, who is currently on international duty with France, has now had his say on how Arteta has helped him develop behind the scenes.
The Spaniard apparently wants Saliba to scare opposition players from coming near him, which is why he told the defender to be ‘meaner’ and not soft.
Saliba told L’Equipe: “I came back to Arsenal and I won. And there, there was Arteta, who made me pass another course.
“He’s one of the best coaches in the world. He looks at all the details and hates defeat. We work every game differently. He taught me to have a good attitude.
“Sometimes he thought I was a little soft in training so he asked me to be meaner. In fact, he wants players to be scared when he sees me.
“He was always honest with me, even when he didn’t want me to play. And when he thought I deserved, he would tell me.”
READ MORE: William Saliba became first player in Arsenal history to record remarkable Premier League feat
Saliba makes modest admission about his level
Arsenal fans absolutely love Saliba and rightly so.
The Frenchman, still only 22 years old, is already up there with the best centre-backs in the world, and he helped Arsenal maintain the best defensive record in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season.
Saliba claimed that he knows he’s one of the top three defenders in the Premier League, but we think he’s being a bit too modest here.
In the 2023/24 season, Saliba was the best centre-back in the country. In our opinion, he was even better than Virgil van Dijk, whose Liverpool side conceded 12 more goals than Arsenal did in the entire league campaign.
Saliba’s modesty is good to see, but we’re absolutely certain that he will surpass Virgil van Dijk’s legacy very soon – he’s 10 years younger than the Liverpool skipper and is already on the same level, if not higher.
He will only get better in the coming years.