Looks to be a nice tidy player. But if he's going to take all their FKs he needs to get more whip on it. Never felt threatened by his set pieces today.
Saliba clean sheet master-class. Win? Tick. Clean sheet? Tick. No reds? Tick. No injuries? Tick. What a change a year makes.
Credit to White for handling the difficult task of shadowing Zaha who is a real pain in the ass. Kept his nerve the whole way, especially after the yellow.
And there we go. Think clean sheet, tally a couple clever goals, stay focused and before you know it you've beaten a quality side in their park. Nice night's work from the lads. Very happy with the back line, Saliba especially. Play like that all season and we're going to be one tough side to beat.
The addition of Saliba is HUGE because it gives us the flexibility of moving White to RB. I don't like being so negative, but imagine Cedric vs Zaha tonight. Vieira might have circled that match up in their pre-match team talk.
Saliba looks like he's playing in the park - he never looked stressed. He'll probably play his way on to the World Cup squad now.
i don't have a problem with xhaka getting a yellow - even though i don't think he dove as much as he has shit balance and was trying to be more agile than he is capable getting around the defender - if you think he dove. but, damn, at least be consistent. outside of eze, there was also a flop around the edge of the box not long after xhaka's card. i want to say it was zaha maybe (stream kept going in and out)?
Zaha flopped a couple times as did Ayew. Don't think Xhaka deserved his (wasn't acting hurt and wasn't looking to the ref for a call) but I don't think it is right to give him a card in the first and not give CP atleast 1 card for the half dozen flops they had in the 2nd half.
Great result considering our previous collapses in this sort of fixture we looked very dynamic and good in the press early, kind of wilted as the game went on before the subs. Good timing, Nketiah looked really sharp when he came in. Good to have a hungry striker on the bench would like to see what zinchenko can offer as a lcm as tierney is fit
Oh, I wouldn't have put him at RB. I was thinking a back 3 with Saliba as RCB like he played at Marseille.
I don't want to be too tin-foil-hat but there is currently an investigation into suspicious gambling activity for a Xhaka yellow last season. I would certainly like to know if there was a lot of money bet on Xhaka getting a first half yellow or being the first player to get a card in today's match.