William Saliba demands Arsenal improve in bid for overdue title
William Saliba has vowed to give everything to ensure fourth time’s a charm as perennial runners-up Arsenal attempt to finally get their hands on the Premier League trophy.
Mikel Arteta has transformed the Gunners into regular title contenders in recent years, but they have been unable to turn their improvements into silverware.
Arsenal have finished second for the past three seasons, finishing just shy of champions Manchester City in 2022-23 and 2023-24 before ending up 10 points behind last season’s winners Liverpool.
The near misses have made standout centre-back Saliba all the more determined to help the club win a first Premier League since the 2003-04 Invincibles, and a first major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup.
“Of course we’ve finished second for three years in a row, and we know that we always miss something,” the Arsenal defender said.
“Now it’s a new season, we have to see what we didn’t do well enough to win the league.
“We won the first game and of course we want to win the league, and we will give everything. We have to try to be even better than the last three seasons to win this league.
“We know that the new players who came to help us, and I’m sure that they will help us to win some trophies. Of course we are already better with them. Let’s see.”
Saliba was speaking at the PFA Awards in Manchester, where on Sunday he helped Arsenal claim three points from their opening trip to Ruben Amorim’s United.
Riccardo Calafiori’s header after Altay Bayindir flapped at a corner under pressure from Saliba secured a 1-0 win against the run of play at Old Trafford.
“We want to score in any context — set pieces, counter-attack, everything,” the France international said.
“We have to give everything and we know that we can win every time.
“Of course we knew that we didn’t play our best football, but at the end we knew that it was the first game at Old Trafford with some new signings from them.
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“We knew that they will be good, and they were good. They caused us a lot of problems but, at the end, we are happy to win this game and to keep a clean sheet.”
Saliba spoke having been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the third straight season — “a pleasure” he again got to share with Arsenal teammates Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhães.
The 24-year-old has struck up a fantastic defensive partnership with the latter during their time at the Emirates Stadium, but collective success rather than individual glory is the focus.
“I’m so happy to play every game with him,” Saliba said. “He’s been injured the last few months, now he’s back at his best. He was so good against Manchester again.
“We just miss trophies. We play good, we are good, but we miss trophies, and we have to win trophies with Arsenal to be even better.”