Arsenal: Caging Gabriel Paulista Has Actually Unleashed Him

Arsenal handily put away West Ham and it was a defensive masterclass, thanks in part to Gabriel Paulista, who has seemingly been unleashed by being caged.

Losing Laurent Koscielny was absolutely not on Arsenal’s to-do list to close out a massively disappointing season. The Gunners have been losing like crazy these past few weeks and it has led to a sickening plummet to sixth place, which they have since turned around into fifth.

Koscielny was one of the few reliable pieces of a shattered puzzle, so seeing him come out at half time against Manchester City was pretty sickening.

But Gabriel Paulista showed up. He did his part, which, it was clear, was a new part. This wasn’t the usual ‘go as you please’ Gabriel. This was a confined Gabriel, with a new directive to put defending first and not bother with going forward.

West Ham was going to be the big test. Could this new, caged Gabriel be the real deal and show us signs that he was ready to be in the regular first team conversation?

Yes.

Absolutely.

Gabriel Paulista was everything you could want out of a Premier League defender against West Ham. With an inexperienced keeper in behind him, the Brazilian was on his game. He had a few questionable decisions, but none to put the team at risk. Those questionable decisions were made on the safe side, not the risky.

Rather than letting Gabriel run around and get caught out, Arsene Wenger put faith in his defensive abilities and planted him as a sweeper of sorts. Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka were roaming at the base of the midfield and in behind them was a very capable Gabriel, who played the role incredibly well.

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Everything that we saw out of our third wheel defender was everything we have questioned about him. His decision making, his ability to not be drawn out. Gabriel took care of all of that. He almost took on a Per Mertesacker role, sitting deep and letting everything come to him.

Gabriel Paulista and Shkodran Mustafi both played a very reactive-style of defending. They allowed West Ham to approach them and then snuffed out the passing lanes. They combined for nine interceptions, as opposed to just two combined tackles.

That served a good purpose, as it didn’t allow the Hammers to get in behind. They always had someone between them and Emi Martinez. So while it was surely a priority for West Ham to test the young keeper, they never had much of a chance, except from distance.

We gripe all the time about Wenger not having any tactical chops, but here we have seen just that. Now, whether that leads to anything or turns out to be just another flash in the pan, who knows. But we do know that Gabriel can play the defensive role that we need.

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And that should give us tremendous confidence going forward.

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