William Saliba has been sensational for Arsenal so far in the Premier League campaign. His defensive excellence was met by his attacking capabilities as he scored his first goals for the Gunners with a wonder strike against Bournemouth and a precise header against Brentford.
The Frenchman has bought a sense of calmness and assertiveness to Mikel Arteta’s defence which was evidently lacking last season. More interestingly, he has also added speed to the backline, which is also crucial to playing a high line.
However, the 21-year-old had difficult performances for the first time this season of against Leeds United and Southampton on Sunday. But, his errors were not costly due to the impact of his centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes, who has proven Jamie Redknapp’s criticism’s of him to be wrong.
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Speaking on Sky Sports Super Sunday about Gabriel, Redknapp said: “I’ve been so impressed and I love everything they’re doing. But if there was a place you could get success it would be against this man [Gabriel], gave a goal away against Fulham, penalty against Tottenham, against Liverpool he looked shaky and he can be rash, tries to win every ball.
"If you’re looking at where there might be a slight weakness, I’m sure that’s where they’ll be looking.”
These comments by Rednappp were certainly harsh on Gabriel, but the Brazilian has been excellent since the north London derby at the beginning of October. His display against Leeds epitomised the change around in his form, as Saliba had a tough afternoon which was highlighted when he conceded a penalty in the second half, as a lack of concentration saw him handle the ball in the penalty area.
Thankfully for the Gunners, Patrick Bamford missed the resulting penalty, and Arsenal were able to regroup. Gabriel took control of the defence, and that was shown in his impressive statistics after the match.
The Brazilian won 100 per cent of his aerial duels. He had also won eight duels and made four clearances and blocks. His strong defensive work was matched on the ball, as he enjoyed a 90 per cent pass accuracy rate and also had 80 touches.
His dominant performance on a tough away ground showed that he took the role of leading the defence and helping his young partner in Saliba through the match.
This was then followed up with a solid performance against Southampton, a game in which Arsenal struggled throughout the afternoon. The Brazilian was first to the ball at every defensive set piece, and he took the defence under his control as Arsenal were able to secure a draw despite a poor performance.
football.london's Arsenal writer Kaya Kaynak gave this assessment of his performance. "A decent display from the Brazilian, who largely defended well and tried to marshal the rest of his team into focus when they appeared to be losing it a bit. 7."
The 24-year-old has featured in all but one game so far this season, highlighting how much of a key asset he has become at the Emirates Stadium. Technical director Edu Gaspar and Arteta have expressed their delight after the Brazilian agreed to sign a new long-term deal, with the latter revealing Gabriel is a 'pleasure' to work with and that he is key to the future of the club.
He has led the defence by example in the last few weeks, showing why Redknapp’s claim about the Brazilian being the weak link is wrong.
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