Arsenal defender William Saliba rarely has a quiet international break when he goes away with his country, France.
At 24-years-old, Saliba has now earned 26 caps for France and has seemingly won the confidence of Didier Deschamps too.
However, that does not stop the Arsenal defender from being heavily scrutinised whilst playing for his country – the reality for most wearing France’s famous blue.
That being said, Saliba was criticised after France’s defeat to Croatia in the first leg of their Europa Nations League play-off, a surprise result for Deschamps’ side.
Fortunately, in the return leg back on home soil on Sunday evening, France were able to win 2-0 and take the game to penalties after extra-time, a shoot-out they won 7-4.
William Saliba changes his game after difficult outing for France
Saliba played the entire game alongside Bayern Munich centre-back Dayot Upamecano and like most of France’s players, he improved on his performance in Croatia a few days prior.
Interestingly, Eurosport actually noticed a change that the Arsenal man made to his game on Sunday too – he was playing safer with his passes, perhaps as a result of the first leg.
READ MORE: Arsenal are in ‘concrete talks’ to sign 23-goal striker who’s desperate to move to England
Handing Saliba a 7/10, they wrote: “He’s much more cautious in his choice of passes. But he was tough in the duel.
“The Gunners’ rock started by blocking a shot that was going well and then showed his physicality.”
Footmercato also gave Saliba a 7/10, using a rather interesting phrase to explain his return to form.
Translated from French, they wrote: “Once again lined up in the centre of the French defence despite a more than questionable quarter-final first leg on an individual level, the Gunner put the church back in the middle of the village.
“Confident in his interventions (60% of duels won), he constantly got the better of [Ante] Budimir.”
RMC Sport noted a ‘quiet’ evening for Saliba on their part, one that the defender would probably be quite grateful for after the scrutiny of the first leg.
Handing him a 6/10, they simply said: “A very quiet evening for him, but he handed in a very clean copy overall.”
Saliba will be crucial for Arsenal against Real Madrid
Following the conclusion of Saliba’s efforts for France over the break, all eyes will now be on Arsenal’s upcoming tie with Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta’s side do have two Premier League games before then – they’ll host Fulham and then travel to Everton before welcoming Real to the Emirates.
But given the reality of the title race and Liverpool’s lead, Arsenal would be forgiven for having one eye on their upcoming quarter-final.
Fortunately for the Gunners, Saliba has confirmed his commitment to Arsenal ahead of facing the side he’s often linked to.
Saliba wants to win trophies with Arsenal, and his individual performances certainly deserve to.
