- William Saliba has had some shaky moments since Gabriel was injured on April 1
- The Frenchman looked uncomfortable again in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool
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Jamie Carragher believes the deficiencies in William Saliba’s game have been exposed since centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes suffered a his season-ending injury.
Gabriel was ruled out for the rest of the campaign after sustaining the hamstring injury in the 2-1 win over Fulham on April 1 with the club revealing he would require surgery.
Saliba and Gabriel have formed one of the most impressive defensive partnerships in world football in recent years and the Gunners have struggled since losing the Brazilian.
Saliba is thought by many to be one of the top defenders in the game but hasn’t looked quite as comfortable in the absence of his wingman.
The Frenchman has made some big mistakes, notably against Real Madrid and Crystal Palace, and looked shaky once again in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
And Carragher had some words of criticism after the Premier League clash at Anfield came to an end.
William Saliba has had some shaky moments since defensive partner Gabriel was injured
Jamie Carragher believes Saliba’s main shortcoming has been exposed in recent weeks
Sliba and Gabriel have formed one of the world’s best defensive pairings in recent years
‘When you’re a centre-back. OK, this guy (Gabriel) next to me is the leader,’ he said.
‘When he moves away you’ve got to then become the leader of that back four and organise people and not just play your own game.
‘For me the great centre-backs, it’s not about how good you are and everything you can do. You need to effect other people.
‘Think of Tony Adams and Virgil van Dijk, they’re not just great players, they make everybody else around them great players.
‘That’s the thing I think is still lacking with Saliba. Without Gabriel he doesn’t look the same player and that’s not something you want to be labelled as.
‘I’d be embarrassed if I was playing centre-back for Liverpool and people were saying he’s not the same player without him next to him.’
