Gabriel Magalhães: Lisan Al Gabi

[Yousif Arsenal]

Can you explain to me what club has got to do with it?
They have released him to international duty and he was fit.

What else could have they do?
Forbid him to go to play for Brazil?

Arsenal can't do nothing just advice him you can't block anyone from international duty this is against the rules however Gabriel should be smarter than this it's not vital game it's friendly you could have done what Enzo done with Argentina or Cala with Italy. these two weeks off could play big part for him but he acted dumb also Ancelotti playing him more than half knowing he has issue is even more dumb.

 

[Jasinho]

Gabriel's absence is a massive concern, we basically only consistently create chances from set pieces atm and he's basically our only true set piece threat. You could argue he's the best in the world during a set piece and that his presence alone forces a lot of errors from opposition when we take set pieces. Now that will all be gone for two months. Our set-pieces will have a drop off like it did last season when he got injured and if we don't start being more creative from open play, I can see us dropping a lot of points over the next two months, especially during the Christmas period.

Why must we be cursed like this, injuries to our most important players literally screws us every season ffs.

 

[Penn_]

Gabriel is obviously a massive player, huge reason for a defensive and set piece record, but it's at least a position we can afford an injury.

I'd take this over two months without Zubi or Gyok who have far less natural replacements.

 

[Majora]

Gabriel is obviously a massive player, huge reason for a defensive and set piece record, but it's at least a position we can afford an injury.

I'd take this over two months without Zubi or Gyok who have far less natural replacements.

As crazy as it sounds, I’m more worried about what we are losing in attack with Gabriel than I am in defence. We have some great options to replace him in defence but not sure anyone else can do what he does anywhere near as reliably, in the other box. Hopefully see more of that with Gyokeres if he comes back fit and becomes the main target for these set pieces

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

they have the same injury ?

 

[Arsenal1st]

As crazy as it sounds, I’m more worried about what we are losing in attack with Gabriel than I am in defence. We have some great options to replace him in defence but not sure anyone else can do what he does anywhere near as reliably, in the other bi'd. rather see ox. Hopefully see more of that with Gyokeres if he comes back fit and becomes the main target for these set pieces

Hopefully not, Gyökeres can't jump/attack headers. I'd rather see Merino/Saliba/Calafiori as the main set-piece target

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

 

[viktor]

this is great point dan boogs

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

this is great point dan boogs

Look at the past, Saliba got injured , Tomiyasu injured in the same time
We had only Kiwior, Holding, Tavares, Tierney as backup

Now we have Mosquera, Calafiori, Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, MLS, White > Kiwior, Holding, Zinchenko, Tierney

This is a selection headache for Arteta

 

[albakos]

The injuries are ridiculous now though. Something has to be done.

Maybe Kroenke/Teta should go all Trump on our medic

 

[MikelHadADream]

Maybe Kroenke/Teta should go all Trump on our medic

View attachment 40498

Feels like we’ve had one relatively injury free season in about 20 years lmao.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Gabriel's absence is a massive concern, we basically only consistently create chances from set pieces atm and he's basically our only true set piece threat.

This hasn't been true since the Newcastle (A) game. I would understand listening/reading this narrative from lazy pundits and oppo fans but Arsenal fans who watch our team week in, week out...nahh dawg.

 

[Gooner Zig]

The Gabriel injury sucks but we *will* be getting Gyokeres, Noni, Martinelli, Ødegaard within a few weeks. They're going to be the real game changers for us. Yes Gabriel is brilliant and a key player for us but we have excellent back ups in his position. With Rice and Zubi we have the best CM in the PL which gives us the ability to control and suffocate every team we play.

 

[<<reed>>]

the predict injury risk clanker in shambles

 

[Thrice]

this is great point dan boogs

I can't believe there are people who blame Gabriel. He wants to play the World Cup. Of course he's not going to decline an invitation, friendly or not.

 

[Jasinho]

This hasn't been true since the Newcastle (A) game. I would understand listening/reading this narrative from lazy pundits and oppo fans but Arsenal fans who watch our team week in, week out...nahh dawg.

His threat isn't just scoring from set pieces but causing chaos in opposition defenses and winning the first ball (he's gotten a couple of assists like this in our most recent games). Since Newcastle we still have more set piece goals than open play goals in the PL. I'm not out here rehashing pundits, I've watched all our games this season and we don't play fluid football and certainly don't create a lot of good chances in open play, with the few we do get often going to waste with poor finishing. A lot of the time watching this team you wonder where the goal is going to come from.

 

[Gooner Zig]

His threat isn't just scoring from set pieces but causing chaos in opposition defenses and winning the first ball (he's gotten a couple of assists like this in our most recent games). Since Newcastle we still have more set piece goals than open play goals in the PL. I'm not out here rehashing pundits, I've watched all our games this season and we don't play fluid football and certainly don't create a lot of good chances in open play, with the few we do get often going to waste with poor finishing. A lot of the time watching this team you wonder where the goal is going to come from.

We have *clearly* been more attacking and fluid from Newcastle (A) onwards. This is seen in the open play xG data by game. Our open play xG prior to Newcastle was I think in the bottom 4 in the league and since then, we have skyrocketed to overall 4th open play xG and we are second in overall xG. We have created many chances but because of our attacking injuries we haven't scored the amount of goals that our chance creation has deserved.

Personally, I don't think it's really debatable - we are far more threatening now in open play. Moreover, we have become so with key attackers being injured and missing Ødegaard. We have plenty of upside to come.

 

[Gooner Zig]

I can't believe there are people who blame Gabriel. He wants to play the World Cup. Of course he's not going to decline an invitation, friendly or not.

I think a lot of people forget that he only very recently became a mainstay in the Brasil NT as they have had some idiotic managers. Furthermore, there's the whole issue of him missing a Brasil camp for the birth of his daughter which caused a bit of friction at the time so he is understandably very keen to show his commitment to the NT.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

This hasn't been true since the Newcastle (A) game. I would understand listening/reading this narrative from lazy pundits and oppo fans but Arsenal fans who watch our team week in, week out...nahh dawg.

If people honestly think that is true then I can see why they'd be panicking. Luckily, we live in the real world where we'll adapt and probably win the majority of our games even without Gabriel, as good as he is.

 

[Trilly]

The Gabriel injury sucks but we *will* be getting Gyokeres, Noni, Martinelli, Ødegaard within a few weeks. They're going to be the real game changers for us. Yes Gabriel is brilliant and a key player for us but we have excellent back ups in his position. With Rice and Zubi we have the best CM in the PL which gives us the ability to control and suffocate every team we play.

Yeah it’s annoying to have yet another injury (plus I have him on my fantasy football) but our backup defense is probably still the best in the league

We can also drop Rice deeper if we really want to shield Cala or Hincapie while they get used to playing LCB so while annoying, I think we’ll be fine. Also served as a bit of an in-season rest for him so hopefully he’ll come back fresh and ready to play till May while also keeping all our defenders fresh.

The attackers coming back is what’s really exciting imo.