Didier Deschamps: Saliba was “more ready” than Konate

By The Editor
on 19th June 2024

William Saliba was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI…

France boss Didier Deschamps explained his shock u-turn in deciding to start William Saliba for the opening game against Austria after perviously hinting at sticking with his trusted pair, the Metro reports.

Saliba, despite his outstanding campaigns with Arsenal, had previously failed to change Deschamp’s stubborn mind with the World Cup winner favouring a pairing of Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano.

Last season, the aforementioned duo lost their place at their respective clubs towards the end of the campaign, with Konate especially being the catalyst behind Jurgen Klopp’s side collapse in the title race.

Saliba starred in France’s final warm-up game before the tournament against Canada, leading to the discourse increasing about his inclusion in the starting XI.

The Arsenal man was subsequently given the nod, and helped the former European Champions keep a clean sheet on the way to a a hard-fought win.

“If I decided to play William Saliba, it is because I thought he was more ready than Konate for such a match,” Deschamps was quoted as saying.

“But I don’t want to lose anyone either, we will need everyone. They (Saliba and Upamecano) have 120 minutes together for the France national team, it’s not a lot.

“But they have this ability to be very solid in one-on-one [situations], even if there were some clearances that they could improve on, they exuded a lot of strength and calmness. We needed that against such an opponent,” the former Monaco boss added.

Though he excelled for large parts, Saliba didn’t look quite as comfortable operating as a left-sided central defender in this game, with his ability to open the game up in possession hampered.

Also, given that Les Bleus were up against arguably the best pressing side in the competition, they could’ve done with playing the 23-year-old in his favoured position.

Nevertheless, one expects Saliba to keep his place for the game against the Netherlands which will undoubtedly decide the group’s winner.