Gabriel dos Santos Magalhães

[GDeep™]

You’re going on like Mari has been playing in the Azerbaijani second division. He’s been a key player in a highly successful Brazilian club side which won the Copa Libertadores and pushed Liverpool all the way in the World club Cup final playing under one of the best European football coaches around.

He was there for a little while after not getting a kick in Europe. He was in Holland and mid table Spanish clubs, never got a kick.

He joined the best club in Brazil, big deal. Dead league, they don’t even run in Brazil, they walk and play football.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

He was there for a little while after not getting a kick in Europe. He was in Holland and mid table Spanish clubs, never got a kick.

He joined the best club in Brazil, big deal. Dead league, they don’t even run in Brazil, they walk and play football.

Why not judge him after he's played more than a gnats gentiles amount of minutes for us though? Honestly confuses me so much.

 

[Trilly]

Why is signing someone to be a backup stupid?

Because they’ll still negotiate decent wages and then become deadwood as they stagnate due to being a back up.


New signings are meant to relegate existing starters to the bench. Old starters + high potential youngsters on the bench should in theory give you a competitive atmosphere throughout the squad while improving your first team.

Starters who have been relegated to the bench can then remain as high quality back up or be sold to further improve the first eleven and fuel the cycle. It’s squad building 101 imo.

You’ll have a few exceptions where you do sign someone purely for backup but it’s not something that should be done often.

 

[Trilly]

Why not judge him after he's played more than a gnats gentiles amount of minutes for us though? Honestly confuses me so much.

He will. But in football if it’s too good to be true it usually is.

Some players do just become good at 27 but that’s an edge case, the clubs he’s bounced around at suggest its highly likely that his level just isn’t that great. It won’t be a surprise if he turns out to be a bum imo.

 

[TromsoGooner]

Being the best defender in a dominant Brazilian team after failing at places like Deportivo isnt exactly worth shouting about. Hes 27 and has achieved nothing at the highest level and people are saying Dunk is rubbish because hes 28 and has been a PL regular for years.

From where do you get the idea that he failed at Deportio? He played one season there and did very well and because of that Flamengo bought him. I am sceptical about Mari too but get your facts right.

 

[14Henry]

From where do you get the idea that he failed at Deportio? He played one season there and did very well and because of that Flamengo bought him. I am sceptical about Mari too but get your facts right.

Because if he had impressed at Deportivo he wouldnt have had to go to Brazil to play. Someone in La Liga would have signed him.

 

[razörist]

Well put forward a name. Put your neck out on the line and give me an experience CB who we should sign who will strengthen us.

My point about VVD wasnt about ability. It was about age. If Dunk is too old so is VVD.

Quality comparison this. Van Dijk was 26 when he made the step up to Liverpool.

 

[dashsnow17]

Gabriel looks a great player and if by chance we sign him I'd be more than happy, but it has a whiff of a Fifa signing to me. Pairing a 22 year old Gabriel with a 19 year old Saliba and expecting them just to play together for 10 years is a bit cloud cuckoo land. You get long-standing CB partnerships at top clubs, but you don't get them starting at such a young age.

Take an example of Vertonghen and Alderweirald, they had a long partnership but they were about 26 and 28 when it started. Or the great Maldini/Nesta partnership, Maldini was already 34 when Nesta came to Milan. Likewise Baresi was 8 years older than Maldini when they played together. Or Per & Kos, they were mid to late 20's when they joined up together.

On paper Gabriel looks like a perfect partner for Saliba, but I dunno, maybe in reality you want someone a bit older like Luiz or Mari, or Diego Carlos.

 

[Shalmaneser V]

Because they’ll still negotiate decent wages and then become deadwood as they stagnate due to being a back up.


New signings are meant to relegate existing starters to the bench. Old starters + high potential youngsters on the bench should in theory give you a competitive atmosphere throughout the squad while improving your first team.

Starters who have been relegated to the bench can then remain as high quality back up or be sold to further improve the first eleven and fuel the cycle. It’s squad building 101 imo.

You’ll have a few exceptions where you do sign someone purely for backup but it’s not something that should be done often.

So guys like Milner and Shaqiri at Liverpool.

Navas and Fabian Delph at City.

Park Ji-sung at Man Utd.

All stupid signings?

 

[lomekian]

Yes but when you've finished 8th you cant go from Holding to Varane in one step. You find a defender who is better than what you have now who can help push the team into the top 4. Then when your in the top 4 you go again for someone better as you have more funds and a bigger pool of players wanting to come to your club.

Liverpool didnt go from Skrtel to Van Dijk. They went via the likes of Lovren who was good enough to get towards top 4 but not good enough to win you the league.

Yes, but thats not the point. Lovren was 4 years younger and half the cost. We can't be spending £40m on individual stop gaps, especially those who will have no resale value.

You can't spend such a large proportion of your budget on a guy you know can't play the way you want to long term, has no resale value and you won't be able to shift once you are ready to move on. Strategic ****.

 

[lomekian]

He will. But in football if it’s too good to be true it usually is.

Some players do just become good at 27 but that’s an edge case, the clubs he’s bounced around at suggest its highly likely that his level just isn’t that great. It won’t be a surprise if he turns out to be a bum imo.

The guy from Sevilla in the other thread that everyone is excited about was most famous for being kicked by a ref until this season. And he is 27.

 

[jmsmtthw28]

Gabriel seems like an excellent prospect
I saw a couple of games of Lille pre-Covid and he makes mistakes with his passing but hes a good tackler and really tall.

 

[TornadoTed]

Mari wasnt up against Agueros/Aubas etc every week. Plus wasnt Mari playing for the best team in Brazil meaning he probably got it quite easy most games. The bits I seen from him were not impressive. Too slow for the PL.

I was being a bit glib about Dunk, I actually think he is an OK player. I have my reservations about him playing in a higher line though, seems like a defender who is good as long as he doesn't stray too far from the 18 yard line, wins his aerial and physical duels but not much else.

I also don't know how good or bad Mari is really and I suppose that is my point. The guy has played around 200 minutes for us without conceding a goal and has been written off already. Somebody called him 'one of the worst signings in Arsenal history' a couple of days back.

If AM had of been around in 1999 I dread to think what it would have made of Henry after he failed to score in his first 8 appearances.

I am just proposing that we give the players we do have a decent chance. Every so often football surprises us, look at Martinez, nearly everyone was fearing the worst when Leno got injured and he has been sensational.

 

[razörist]

Gabriel looks a great player and if by chance we sign him I'd be more than happy, but it has a whiff of a Fifa signing to me. Pairing a 22 year old Gabriel with a 19 year old Saliba and expecting them just to play together for 10 years is a bit cloud cuckoo land. You get long-standing CB partnerships at top clubs, but you don't get them starting at such a young age.

Take an example of Vertonghen and Alderweirald, they had a long partnership but they were about 26 and 28 when it started. Or the great Maldini/Nesta partnership, Maldini was already 34 when Nesta came to Milan. Likewise Baresi was 8 years older than Maldini when they played together. Or Per & Kos, they were mid to late 20's when they joined up together.

On paper Gabriel looks like a perfect partner for Saliba, but I dunno, maybe in reality you want someone a bit older like Luiz or Mari, or Diego Carlos.

Idk about that example bro, Vertonghen and Alderweireld. They played together at Ajax for years too before they played together at Tottenham. Perhaps it means we need to check if ASS have another talented defenseman for us?

 

[Shalmaneser V]

Idk about that example bro, Vertonghen and Alderweireld. They played together at Ajax for years too before they played together at Tottenham. Perhaps it means we need to check if ASS have another talented defenseman for us?

They do actually. Wesley Fofana.

 

[razörist]

They do actually. Wesley Fofana.

Well problem solved! Sign him up.

 

[Sebastes]

Became a little interested in comparing players so threw this together. Based on their resp domestic league stats 19/20 season.

Gabriel stands out to me, looks a no brainer tbh. Slight concern over his passing, though. He hits fewer long balls than the others as well and that should really give him a relatively higher Passing%. Originally had Aké in there as well, but visualization became really messy so removed. But he falls short imo.

It's based on Statsbomb CB template, but I have replaced their metrics of "Pressured Long Balls" and "Unpressured Long Balls" with "PAdj Passes into final third" and "Passes under pressure ratio" (how many % of passes came under pressure from opponent). Did this because of difficulties with extracting the data for their original metrics.

I had to reverse engineer the PAdj Tackles & PAdj Interceptions but think I managed to with some help from the internet. Verified it vs van Dijk and Wan Bissaka's 18/19 seasons and it checked out, but small disclaimer on validity there.

Suggestions on other metrics very welcome!

 

[Trilly]

So guys like Milner and Shaqiri at Liverpool.

Navas and Fabian Delph at City.

Park Ji-sung at Man Utd.

All stupid signings?

Milner was not signed to be a backup at Liverpool, he’s actually a perfect example of signing a player who creates a competitive atmosphere at the club. He currently holds the CL record for assists in a campaign, he’s only become a back-up because Liverpool signed Fabinho. That’s how it should be.

Park is another one I’m not sure was signed to be a back-up I seem to remember him always starting against us and being an absolute pain. Feel like he was first name on the team sheet against Arsenal ffs.

Again, like Milner, signing a utility player is different to signing somebody to be a backup up. Cedric for example is not a utility player, neither is Mari.

The rest of your examples don’t really apply to us. Delph was signed fo be utility/to help with HG player quotas, he was actually a good player at the time too. Liverpool should also have signed a better player than Shaqiri to challenge their front three. Firmino went almost a whole season without scoring at home, if he had a young hungry forward on the bench itching to take his place I’m not sure that would have happened.

 

[Dutch D]

Suggestions on other metrics very welcome!

Nice job, thanks. Gabriel comes out really well.

Curious how you made this. Any tutorials you can point me towards?

 

[Trilly]

The guy from Sevilla in the other thread that everyone is excited about was most famous for being kicked by a ref until this season. And he is 27.

Well it does happen, but I’d also be nervous about him. Otamendi and Mustafi both came here with solid ratings from La Liga.