Owen says Arsenal star should have been ‘screaming’ at teammate in dressing room after Palace draw
Michael Owen claims Arsenal star William Saliba should have been “screaming” at one of his Gunners teammates after their 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Arsenal took the lead twice on the night through Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard but were pegged back courtesy of stunning goals from Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta, and were fortunate to walk away with a point in the end with Palace the side pushing for victory in the last ten minutes.
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Mateta’s equaliser saw William Saliba cede him possession outside his box before the Frenchman chipped David Raya superbly to win Palace a point, and Glasner confirmed after the game that he had told his players to be wary of the goalkeeper’s positioning.
Owen believes Saliba should have been “screaming” at the Arsenal goalkeeper in the dressing room after the game.
Speaking on Premier League Productions, Owen explained: “Everybody knows Raya takes big angles. But once the angle is a closed one, once Saliba is about to go wide to Timber, or potentially (back inside), Raya should be sprinting back to make his new angle just in case he comes back.
“He [Raya] was never, ever going to be in the game and I feel sorry for Saliba because all he does is make one mistake in many ways.
“If I was Saliba there I would be going into the dressing room screaming at Raya, screaming at him.
“Okay, make an angle, that’s fine, help me out sometimes, but if you’re in doubt just get in a position where I can always pass to you. When I’m in trouble, at least I can go safe.”
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Mikel Arteta’s men will face PSG next week in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final and Ex-Gunners defender Martin Keown is concerned that “sloppiness” has become an issue for Arsenal after taking their eye off the ball in the Premier League.
“I think Saliba, if I’m working with him [I am saying], ‘don’t switch off’,” Keown said.
“The game they played against Real Madrid, the goalkeeper rolled it out to him just after they scored and it’s as if he hasn’t got a picture, he wasn’t alert.
“It’s twice now that’s happened in successive games – he just needs to sharpen up.
“I think it’s crept in because of the sloppiness with Arsenal just trying to see out games, tonight was a victory in not getting injuries, because there’s a huge game coming up and I think when you’re just down from 100 per cent, you make mistakes.”
