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Arsenal Defense in Gabriel Paulista and Laurent Koscielny’s Hands
How wonderful was Arsenal’s Manchester United performance? I have not seen Arsenal play as well they did on Sunday afternoon since the days of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp leading the line.
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Last week I proposed the 3 keys in beating Manchester United. Arsenal were able to execute all 3 and more. The attacking quintet of Sanchez, Ozil, Cazorla, Ramsey and Walcott were excellent. The pace, intensity and fluidity of Arsenal’s offensive weapons was a joy to behold as they ripped the Premier League’s stingiest defense to shreds.
Arsenal have struggled to perform up to the level of the latter half of last year. But in the first half against Manchester United, Arsenal were back to their ruthless best. It is exciting to be writing after such a good result and performance, and heading into the international break, Arsene Wenger’s men can be regarded as true title challengers .
While Arsenal were not far from perfect offensively in the opening stages of Sunday’s match, what was particularly impressive was the defensive solidarity. What was so important to Arsenal’s victory was Manchester United’s inability to hold onto the ball. This is partly due to poor play from Loius Van Gaal’s players, but was heavily influenced by Arsene Wenger’s aggressive defensive tactics.
Arsenal were able to exploit United’s poor centerbacks by simply overwhelming them with pace of possession. This pace of possession came from Arsenal’s ability to win the ball back quickly. Gabriel and Mertesacker, collectively, had 6 interceptions and 18 clearances.
In comparison, Smalling and Blind intercepted the ball only 3 times and cleared the ball just once. After factoring Arsenal’s offensive dominance in the first half, the differing statistics between Arsenal’s centerbacks and United’s centerbacks are exceptional. Gabriel and Mertesacker won the ball back quickly and efficiently. This was key in developing pace and intensity in Arsenal’s offensive play. It ultimately resulted in an outstanding Arsenal performance.
Looking into the future, Koscielny will be Arsenal’s starting centerback. Who partners him, however, is a much more clouded picture. Arsenal’s centerback partnership of the last few seasons has been Koscielny alongside Per Mertesacker. The German World Cup winner has his faults. His lack of pace is clearly an issue, and he struggles when dragged into wide areas, but he has many facets which are often missed.
Perhaps most importantly, the BFG rests on his extensive experience. Positionally, he is excellent. He is solid aerially, and deals with crosses from wide areas with consummate ease. However, he is now 31, and has looked more vulnerable in recent weeks, especially in European games. The future of Arsenal’s defense is not the big German, however good he may have been for the Gunners in past seasons. The future of Arsenal’s defense is January signing Gabriel Paulista.
The Brazilian centerback looked uncertain at times last season, but did grow into his role playing alongside either Koscielny or Mertesacker. For centerbacks last year, Koscielny led the league in interceptions per game with 3.44. However, Gabriel had 3.17 interceptions per game, good for 8th among defenders last season.
As I have banged on about in this article, Arsenal’s ability to quickly recover the ball was key to their success. Both Gabriel and Koscielny are aggressive defensively, looking to intercept the ball regularly. This defensive pairing would be perfect for such a defensive tactic.
More evidence of Gabriel’s impact on this Arsenal side is shown in one quite spectacular stat. Arsenal have not conceded a goal in the Premier League when Gabriel Paulista has been on the pitch. That is outstanding part way through October. Arsenal are yet to concede with the Brazilian playing.
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Furthermore, consider Arsenal’s defensive frailties early in the season. Especially when facing teams such as West Ham on the opening day of the season. The upturn in defensive solidarity with Gabriel’s return is no surprise. The future of Arsenal’s defense lies in the hands of Gabriel Paulista and Laurent Koscielny, and quite frankly, they look like a very safe pair of hands.
Do you agree Gooners? Were you as impressed with Arsenal’s performance on Sunday to say that it’s the best performance since the glory days of the early noughties? Are you pleased with Arsenal’s aggressive defensive tactics to dominate matches and recover the ball quickly, increasing their pace of possession? And what are your thoughts on Gabriel Paulista: Do you think he and Koscielny could be the future centerback partnership of Arsenal?
Next: Arsenal Have A Surplus Of Fullbacks