Speaking exclusively to Get French Football News, former France, Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas expressed that he believes William Saliba’s performances for the national team do not match his form at Arsenal.

Last time we spoke you said that William Saliba hadn’t yet shown his Arsenal form for France. Has the World Cup changed your view on that? And how do you think Arsenal will cope without him?

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“His performance was not the same as he played for Arsenal. He had a good performance. But what I’ve seen – and I know exactly because I was in that situation – if you remember during the World Cup, Saliba played on the left side.”

“And normally with Arsenal, he plays on the right side. So when he plays with Arsenal, you can see he has that confidence, because he knows that position very well, you know, right-footed, the movement looks like it’s very simple and easy. When he plays on the left side, it’s different because he has to be more focused because when he receives the ball, normally the ball has to be on his left foot, but because he’s on the right foot, he has to control the ball differently.”

“So for me, as I said, because I played in that position in the 2006 World Cup, I’m sure he was more focused on the World Cup, you know, so that’s why he looked like he was a little bit uncomfortable.”

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“Maybe some people didn’t see it. But I saw it. So that’s why I said I would say he had a good performance, but not the best one as he had with Arsenal. Because the problem was, you know, he played with Dayot Upamecano, who played as well on the right side with Bayern Munich. So you had to choose between the two players who was going to play on the right side, and it was Upamecano. So yeah, I’m sure Saliba can show more with his quality.”

Chelsea are spending big again. So you think the constant turnover is holding them back? Or could Alonso be the crucial appointment?

I think Alonso can be very important for them because now, okay, you’ve got some good players, but it doesn’t mean you will get the results straight away. You need to get that manager who can fix everything and give confidence to your players to play the best football and to be ready once the season starts.

So now he has got the president to explain what he wants from his players. Don’t forget, he will start the season with a disadvantage point because it’s a lot of new players, a new coach, a new system.

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So normally it will take time, you know, to see the best of Chelsea. I think Alonso is a very important person who can fix and make the team ready and to give Chelsea the opportunity to come back to the level we expect them to be.

William Gallas was speaking exclusively to Get French Football News courtesy of iPredicta

GFFN | Jeremy Smith