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Riccardo Calafiori stole the show as Italy beat France in the Nations League. The Arsenal defender played the entire match, and Italy shocked most of the world when they beat the French side by a dominant scoreline of 3-1.
What was most impressive about Calafiori's performance was how well he handled Michael Olise. In fact, Olise's goal came from a Gianluigi Donnarumma mistake (shock...), with nothing Calafiori could do about it. His goalkeeper's error aside, Calafiori gave Olise a difficult night to remember.
Riccardo Calafiori brought the Arsenal approach to Michael Olise
Olise is one of the best players in the world. The world saw it at the World Cup that Olise is capable of competing against some of the best defences in the world, but he couldn't live up to facing Calafiori.
Calafiori played no differently to how he's played for Arsenal at the start of the season. Sure, he was assured in the defence, but it was actually his in-possession work that gave Olise a difficult time.
Numerous times, Olise challenged Calafiori, but the Arsenal defender was not fazed. On the other hand, Olise did not successfully dribble past Calafiori even once.
Riccardo Calafiori is far more than just a defender
Calafiori has proven once again, for a different team, that he is far more than just a defender. His best work was actually in the final third, with Donnarumma even trusting him to lead Italy's counterattack at one point during the game. Calafiori took the ball and drove forward with purpose, finding plenty of space by fluttering into an 8 position.
Some Arsenal fans have suggested that Calafiori could be used at left-wing to fill in for injuries, with Piero Hincapie covering him at left back. While this would obviously be Mikel Arteta's last resort, it's not a crazy idea. After all, Calafiori basically plays as a winger when Arsenal are in possession.
Judging how he played against Olise in one game is obviously a stretch, but it was great to see him carrying his form into playing against one of the best national teams in the world. Italy were the underdogs, and Calafiori was one of the standout performers in pushing them over the line.
When he comes back to Arsenal duty, the Gunners will be playing against some of the toughest teams in the world back-to-back, so Calafiori will obviously be called upon. As it stands, he's been one of Arsenal's best players so far this season.
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