“We lost the Premier League because of you”: Arsenal star discloses Mikel Arteta told him he was ‘too gentle’ during training.

William Saliba recently admitted that he had to earn the trust of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, who often criticized him for being too “soft” during training sessions. Saliba joined Arsenal from French side St-Etienne five years ago for a substantial £27 million fee but initially struggled to break into the first team. Instead, he spent two full seasons back on loan in France before finally getting his chance under Arteta.

Now, at 23 years old, Saliba has established himself as a key player for Arsenal, contributing significantly to their recent Premier League campaigns where they have closely contested with Manchester City. He is also poised to play an important role for his national team in the upcoming European Championship.

Reflecting on his journey with Arsenal, Saliba expressed his admiration for Arteta while acknowledging the tough love he received from the Spanish coach in the early days. In an interview with L’Equipe, Saliba shared, “He taught me to have a good attitude. Sometimes he thought I was a little soft in training, so he asked me to be meaner. He wants the players to be scared when they see me. He took me to another level. He is one of the best coaches in the world. He looks at all the details and hates defeat. We work on each match differently.”

After this summer’s European Championship, Arsenal will continue their pursuit of their first league title in over 20 years, having come close but falling just short in the previous season. Saliba believes the team is making significant progress but acknowledges the formidable challenge posed by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

“We know even more today that Manchester City can make mistakes, but that from February and March, they don’t miss anymore,” Saliba said. “We played against them three times, we put them in difficulty. They feel and we feel that we are close to them. Next year, we’re going to have an even better war.”