Former Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas and Alan Shearer were both blown away yesterday by one Arsenal star at Euro 2024.
The European Championships are moving along nicely, with Arsenal one of the most represented clubs at the entire tournament with 11 players in total from the north London side, though Jakub Kiwior and Kieran Tierney have both seen their summers end early.
Despite these two early blows, there’s a real chance that Arsenal could end the competition with a star player lifting the Euros for their respective nation, with Kai Havertz looking impressive already for the host nation, Germany.
And another Arsenal star with a real shot of winning the Euros is now impressing at the tournament.
William Saliba showered with praise after second clean sheet with France
Speaking on BBC One’s coverage of France vs the Netherlands, William Saliba was praised to no end by Jenas and Shearer, who were both amazed with what they saw from the Arsenal defender after Les Bleu’s 0-0 draw in Dusseldorf.
Shearer said on Saliba’s display: “Saliba has been really good, though, hasn’t he? There was a one-on-one Saliba had, and he was outstanding, wasn’t he? He was in control of the situation. He was brilliant.
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“That one-v-one that he had, I think it was with Frimpong actually, and he was just in total control of the situation. He pushed him where he wanted to go and got the tackle in.”
Jenas was just as impressed, with the former Tottenham man saying: “He is one of the best in the business at that, William Saliba, in a one v one situation. Stays on his feet all the time. Doesn’t panic.”
Worldwide fans are now starting to see the real Saliba at Arsenal
Saliba’s performances for France have been mixed over the years despite the 23-year-old defender being arguably one of the best centre-backs in the world since breaking into Arsenal’s starting XI in 2022.
Which is why the youngster’s performances at this summer’s Euros are such a joy to watch, with neutrals now starting to see how good Saliba is and why Arsenal supporters value and rate the French defender as much as they do.
Indeed, Saliba has been one of the best defenders at Euro 2024 this summer, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the 23-year-old was key for France in their potential route to the championship next month.
Arsenal winners and losers at Euro 2024
In this week’s episode, Will Jones and Rahul Lakhani discussed the first few days of the European Championships. With Arsenal players such as Kai Havertz and Kieran Tierney experiencing mixed starts to the tournament, the pair assessed which Gunners were the winners and losers from the group stages so far.
There was some talk about transfers based off the Euros, with Arsenal-linked Amadou Onana’s display for Belgium discussed, whilst Leandro Trossard’s poor performance was analysed, and Bukayo Saka’s sensational England showing lauded.