William Saliba has just given Arsenal the wake-up call they desperately needed

Arsenal defender William Saliba hasj ust given himself, the rest of his teammates, and everyone else at Arsenal the wake-up call they have needed for the longest time.

Despite being nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table at one point, Arsenal now find themselves to be in second place, with just five games to go.

If they lose, the footballing internet will eat them alive, and the tag of 'bottlers' would seemingly never go away.

Well, to prevent that from happening, Saliba - who has emerged as one of the leaders of this squad in the last few months and years - has talked about how they need to be at their best no matter what in these five games.

William Saliba has just given Arsenal the wake-up call they desperately needed

He said: "We need to be calm but to die on the pitch as well. It’s now. We have to go. We need everyone: the fans, team, staff, everyone. We have to do it now.

“When the season is finished it’s too late. We have to give everything and we have to die on the pitch.”

That last line is a real eye-opener. Arsenal know what is at stake. Even if they are able to win the Champions League - something that is definitely within the realm of possibility - they would still have bottled the league if they don't turn things around.

They have to score more goals than Manchester City to win the league, assuming both teams win their remaining games.

Scoring has been a problem in many moments for Arsenal, and they would need to improve massively in that regard.

Manchester City may have the upper hand at the moment, but if they are only truly ahead on goal difference, then it is still anyone's game right now. Manchester City just do not have the same amount of pressure that Arsenal would right now, which is largely self-inflicted anyway.

However, Saliba's quotes about Arsenal needing to do things now are really important. Hearing one of your own teammates talk about it being too late for them to win the league must wake something up inside the rest of the group, and hopefully, that is what effect this has on Arsenal.

There are a lot of tangibles at stake, but at the same time, lots of intangibles, too. Arsenal need a lot to go their way to win the league title, but they won't even be close to doing that if they don't do what Saliba has just said.

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