"That was a big mistake" - William Gallas slams 2 Arsenal stars for their performance against Manchester United 

Former Arsenal defender William Gallas has criticized Ben White and William Saliba for their performances in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester United on September 3.

The Gunners suffered their first defeat of the season against their longtime Premier League rivals.

Bukayo Saka had canceled out Antony's opener to give Arsenal hope of maintaining their unbeaten record.

However, Mikel Arteta's side were left ruing their dominance in possession.

Marcus Rashford stole through the Gunners' backline on two occasions in the second half, with Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes finding him too easily.

Gallas believes a lack of communication between White and Saliba led to Rashford's double.

He told Genting Casino:

"Against Manchester United, at Old Trafford, you can’t concede those types of goals, especially the second and the third one. That was a big mistake of Saliba and Ben White – they didn’t communicate properly and they conceded because of it. Their positioning was poor."

Gallas scrutinized the third goal of which Rashford had acres of space when United hit the Gunners on the counter attack:

"On the third goal, you’ll have to explain to me how the defensive line was so high. That was a basic mistake to make at this level. Saliba looked like he was in the position of the left back and White was isolated in the middle on his own."

Some have questioned Arteta's tactics in having his side play such a high line when the game was so open.

Gallas has backed those sentiments, saying:

"I don’t understand why Arsenal played with a line that high when there was time for them to come back into the game – it was unnecessary to play so high. Teams should only concede this type of goal when they are chasing a game in stoppage time, not when there is 15 minutes left to play!"

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An off day for Saliba and White in Arsenal 3-1 defeat to Manchester United

A day to forget for the Frenchman

White and Saliba have comfortably been two of the best defenders in the Premier League this season prior to the defeat to Manchester United.

Saliba in particular has been impressive since coming into Arteta's team and even scored a screamer in the side's 3-0 win over Bournemouth.

White has taken up the right-back role with aplomb and perhaps it was just a bad day at the office for the duo at Old Trafford last Sunday.

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to Switzerland to face FC Zurich in the UEFA Europa League on September 8.

It will be intriguing to see if the Gunners manager makes changes to his backline following the defeat.