Gabriel Magalhães: Lisan Al Gabi

[BigPoppaPump]

Our Brazilian defensive maestro hopefully will come back to us full strength and be the one to bring an end to our defensive woes.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

Case of a YouTube video making him look better than he is or have we forgotten a bit the quality this boy has?

Think it might be a bit of both tbh, he looked really class to me in the first games as an Arsenal player last season. Still a big prospect--first season in English football and not too much top flight experience--and I think we forget a bit his quality on the ball (as shown in this video).

 

[Melquiades]

Case of a YouTube video making him look better than he is or have we forgotten a bit the quality this boy has?

Think it might be a bit of both tbh, he looked really class to me in the first games as an Arsenal player last season. Still a big prospect--first season in English football and not too much top flight experience--and I think we forget a bit his quality on the ball (as shown in this video).

He's definitely a big talent who can make big plays and have impressive games but his inexperience showed at times with a tendency toward significant mental errors.

That said, it's hard to find too many 22-23 y/o CBs you couldn't say that about.

 

[Lidl_Reed]

Case of a YouTube video making him look better than he is or have we forgotten a bit the quality this boy has?

Think it might be a bit of both tbh, he looked really class to me in the first games as an Arsenal player last season. Still a big prospect--first season in English football and not too much top flight experience--and I think we forget a bit his quality on the ball (as shown in this video).

Issue is youtube videos are terrible for defenders. Best defenders will be well positioned and have less highlight reel moments

 

[Barry]

The video shows that he can do all the modern CB stuff well - great vision and passing range; can drive out with the ball from deep as well. He is a powerful, fast, physically dominant defender as well so there's some great raw materials to work with. He needs a settled back line and a season injury free now and I think (hope) that he can kick on and find some consistency.

 

[tcahill]

Was a rare gem last season before catching Covid and getting injured. Great modern CB, keen to see him next to White.

 

[tactica442]

Gabriel's contribution is appreciated. But my hope is for the kind of Sol-Toure partnership. If Gabriel to be Sol, then he will need an agile, athletic defender to complement him. Wish White can add to that defensive core.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Potential to be a world class CB. Think Thiago Silva with more physical capability.

 

[Trilly]

Potential to be a world class CB. Think Thiago Silva with more physical capability.

Always a tricky one with CBs as he won’t be the best version of himself for another five years maybe.

I hope he becomes that guy for us but isn’t a mess while he gets there.

 

[GunnerShy]

He's definitely a big talent who can make big plays and have impressive games but his inexperience showed at times with a tendency toward significant mental errors.

That said, it's hard to find too many 22-23 y/o CBs you couldn't say that about.

Big talent. Big upside. Probably not Saliba's ceiling but a good off-sider.

Well suited to the EPL with his physicality. But as pointed out, prone to some rash challenges and some bad days on the ball. Not sure White is the right profile of CB to partner him, but we shall see.

 

[AberGooner]

Will be nice to see him back. Looked good in spells considering it was his first season. Hope he doesn't have anymore disruptions now as that won't help his development.

 

[Wrighty4eva]

This thread title is jokes man , let the man have his caps in peace..

 

[Impact]

Potential to be a world class CB. Think Thiago Silva with more physical capability.

I like Gabriel but this is certainly an overstatement. Thiago Silva is still levels ahead of him on the ball and during his pomp had a similar level of physical capability.

On Gabriel: he is our best defender and is perfect for the modern game because he can defend high, defend wide, defend against pace, in one v one situations and aerially. One point for him to improve is how he defends as part of a defensive unit. That's key to his improvement. Can he make our defensive unit better? Can he lead? Can he marshall? Can he organise? If he can add that to his game, we have a potentially elite CB.

On the ball, he is good enough. Not special but has the ability to make the right pass most of the time and a great pass some of the time. It's not particularly essential given the responsibility for progressing the ball on the left-hand-side is predominantly with the left-sided midfielder that drops deep and the right-sided centre back (Ben White) on the right-hand side.

For what we paid, it is looking like an excellent deal. Just needs to stay fit for longer stretches.

 

[Riou]

Crucial block at the end, so glad to have him back.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Now without Luiz around to give him instructions it'll important how he'll cope i hope he build a good partnership with white because him with holding last season wasn't too inspiring

 

[db10fan]

Please stay fit for long as he has the tools to be an elite CB.

 

[MutableEarth]

Looked relatively untroubled. Game suited him I thought - Pukki tried to get physical multiple times and Gabriel was the one who stood up pretty easily. He'll have way sterner tests than that, but this was a good game for him to get some gas in the tank.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Dominant display. He’s so good in the air. Having got a season of PL football under his belt I fancy him to kick on and really establish himself.

His partnership with White is looking promising.

 

[Trilly]

He’s not as good as White on the ball but he’s still pretty good and you can back him to break the lines a few times a game.

Our entire back line can play now and the funny thing is you’d stay Tierney is probably the ‘worst’ passer in the back four. Good tools for the next manager.

 

[Mitch]

Dominant in the air, displayed very good defensive positional awareness and came up a couple very last ditch tackles. Our best player after Ødegaard yesterday.