Arsenal: Gabriel Paulista Can Absolutely Say He Belongs

Arsenal signed Gabriel Paulista with huge expectations but he sort of faltered. Now, however, he can absolutely say he belongs.

Arsenal’s match against West Ham required a bit of improvising on the defensive end. With Hector Bellerin and Mathieu Debuchy both injured and Carl Jenkinson a bit lacking in confidence, Wenger again pulled the trigger on giving Gabriel the start.

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And he has to be pleased – again.

Gabriel did a fantastic job, showcased his athleticism and showed much more going forward than we had seen previously. He looked like he fit in with this side, something that has came and went throughout his short career in North London.

Last year was the telling year. Tasked with beating out Per Mertesacker for a starting role, Gabriel ran into fits of trouble with both staying healthy and staying consistent. He never returned from injury in the same form as he was in when he got injured in the first place.

It was a major worry because there was no telling what he would or would not do. It was a massive gamble and the Brazilian fell on the backburner.

Especially when Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi were brought in this past summer.

However, despite all of that, he has returned this year and had incredibly sporadic appearances. Now, remember last year when sporadic appearances were met with sporadic form? You never knew what you were going to get when he had to make a spot start.

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That has clearly been left behind as Gabriel has had sporadic appearances yet again this year, but contrary to last year, he has not had sporadic form. He has been in top form no matter where or when he is played, and that has varied greatly.

Now all he has to do is stay healthy, and we had another injury concern against West Ham when he went down favoring his knee.

Even then though, that fear of returning in poor form seems to be wiped clean because he returned from injury this year and looked like he was ready to take on the world. He may have finally turned that corner and solidified himself as a reliable defender.

Which is great, because this man has a competitive streak that can match that of Alexis. And that’s saying something.

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I actually want to see more of him, which is a shame because he will be back to the bench when Bellerin returns.