Jamie Carragher has debunked a ‘myth’ regarding William Saliba’s absence from Arsenal’s team after their collapse in the Premier League title race. The Gunners, who were eight points clear at the top of the table earlier in the campaign, were battered 3-0 at home by Brighton on Sunday in a devastating blow. Saliba has been ruled out with injury since March and many have suggested that Arsenal went downhill after losing the centre-back, with the side blowing two-goal leads to Liverpool and West Ham before drawing 3-3 with 20th-placed Southampton.
However, Carragher has downplayed the defender’s absence and insisted it started to go wrong for the team after the World Cup in Qatar. He said: ‘After the World Cup, still with William Saliba in the team… [they played] 13 games and conceded 14. Not the end of the world, but they went from the best in the league [before the World Cup] to 10th. That is a massive drop-off. The clean sheets dropped. The amount of times they conceded 2+ goals [after the World Cup with William Saliba in the team], 12th in the league. Five times in 13 games, even with William Saliba, they conceded 2+ goals. That tells you what after the World Cup, they were completely different defensively. Without William Saliba they drop even further… But this idea that they weren’t conceding goals or looking vulnerable with William Saliba at centre-back is a myth.’