Arsenal: Gabriel Paulista Proving To Be Kostafi’s Equal

Arsenal’s defense was in shambles for the first 45 against Manchester City, but strangely, when Gabriel Paulista came on, things changed. Take note.

Against Bayern Munich, Arsenal fans took note on the difference when Laurent Koscielny was on the pitch and when he wasn’t. In short, the Gunners won the minutes when the Frenchman was on the pitch and were smashed by the Germans when he was off.

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You might have expected the same against Manchester City, but in fact, the opposite occurred, although circumstances weren’t the same.

In the first half, Shkodran Mustafi looked like he wanted to be a midfielder. He was bombarding all over the place, but given how loose he was with the ball, it came back to bite him. I suppose you have to admire how inspired he was to make a difference, but that doesn’t always translate to effectiveness and it sure didn’t this time around.

At half, Koscielny came off because of injury and that’s about when you had to think that the gates would be opened. The Brazilian Gabriel Paulista came on in Koscielny’s stead and while he has been solid this year, filling the boots of the captain is an impossible task.

Only it wasn’t. Gabriel Paulista was simply fantastic. He provided a ton of things that the Gunners desperately needed. He was smart in his positioning, he was quick in his reactions and he did not hesitate in his decision making.

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Gabriel prove, yet again, that he needs to be in the conversation for this back four. When he was filling in for Hector Bellerin, I noted that he was a growing threat to Bellerin, but now he is proving to be a growing threat to Mustafi and Koscielny as well.

He has done what the “internal competition” directive was supposed to do for everyone. He has taken every opportunity he has gotten and thrived. He has used his time off to improve and focus his abilities and it shows.

Each time he steps onto that pitch, he looks like he belongs. Part of the problem when he first arrived was that he looked lost. He made mental gaffs and hesitated too much.

Against City, he managed more successful clearances than the rest of the defense, and that was just in 45 minutes of play.

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Kostafi is a force to be reckoned with, but it has been leaky in recent matches and exploring the potential outlook of this defense with Gabriel added in should absolutely be a priority. Even if it has to wait until this summer.