Arsenal fans ready to see new STAR born!

He is nearly ready according to the Arsenal manager. But reading between the lines and knowing that Arsene Wenger likes to use the domestic cup games to give playing opportunities to the fringe players in the squad, it looks like we are going to get our first look at what the January signing Gabriel Paulist is all about this weekend.

In his pre-match press conference reported by Arsenal.com the Frenchman hinted that the Brazilian defender signed from La Liga club Villarreal in January is now ready to get his first action for the Gunners and the way he said it suggested to me that he thinks Gabriel is going to be a real star for us.

Wenger said, “[Gabriel is] a player who has the ability and likes to defend – it’s more and more difficult to find people like that. He’s a player who has good qualities – he has good pace, he’s good in the air and is good in one against ones.

“It’s better I don’t talk too much, let him play and he can show how good he is.

“We have the squad to [compete], but that’s down to how dedicated, how focused, how motivated, how united we’ll be until the end of the season that will of course decide that.

“This is a period where you need more from your players than usual, because it’s the last four months of the season. You need everybody to give a bit more than they’re used to.

“[The squad will] not [be rotated] especially because it’s the FA Cup. Some players will play who have not played recently, but we treat this game exactly the same as a Premier League game.”

I assume it will be Laurent Koscielny who makes way if the new man is to start, as he seems to have the same qualities as our French centre back. And with the nagging worry about Koscielny’s ankle ligaments it would surely make more sense to give him a rest rather than Mertesacker.

Also, the German seems to be the one who reads, organises and controls the back line and now they have had the time to train together, Gabriel will hopefully know how the Arsenal defence want to operate. So are the fans about to see the start of something great? Let’s hope so Gooners…

Tags Gabriel Koscielny Mertesacker

22 Comments

    1. all other teams have used/ started using their winter buys..but us, i was starting to wonder wen gabriel will hit the pitch

      1. Purely a language issue, he needs to instantly understand warnings and commands.

        Poor bugger is also probably suffering from PTSD at discovering Wenger uses zonal marking!

    1. I doubt if that will happen – this has been done to death on this site and whilst the theory sounds great the truth is he is too similar to Kos for that to be a long-term partnership imo. I still have flashbacks to the Kos/TV5 pairing. Not saying it couldn’t work long term but reckon it would be too early to try it out now. Whatever people think of BFG as a player he does compensate for Kos’s most glaring weakness – communication and leadership is not in his armoury, he almost plays like a “lone wolf”. In truth it is not something BFG is overly great at but he is OK in this respect.

  1. We may also see youngsters like Bielik, Hayden or Zelalem play on Sunday

    Gabriel looks like he has the right attitude too. I hope he is a work horse like defensive version of Alexis.

  2. And let us all give him a chance to settle and find his feet and not judge prematurely irrespective of whether he has a blinder or looks nervous. I don’t know how he will go for us long term but I have no doubt whatsoever – not even a smidgeon – that we have bought a proper warrior.

  3. Is anybody else concerned that we are taking the side that went to the etihad and knocked city out last round , lightly …..?

    We can retain this cup if we take it SERIOUSLY !

  4. City lost 0-2 but had 65% possession, 24 shots against 14 shots and 11 corners against 2.
    Middlesbrough didn’t win, City badly failed to score.

    Lets give Middlesbrough their deserved credits. They are 1st in the championship and only conceded 20 goals in 30 games (best defence).

    We have to win and there is no other options.

    1. I don’t think they are that great by now we ought to realize that there is no Manchester city without yaya T. I think we will win comfortable but hell this is arsenal the most unpredictable team there is so I will take that back.

      1. Your statement on Man city and Yaya is not true because Man city managed a draw away at Chelsea without Yaya and last weekend hammered Stoke City 4-1 away still without Yaya. I know your intention was to dismiss Arsenal’s victory against Man city at Etihad by claiming it was because of Yaya’s absence but you have dismally failed in that aspect because the two examples above completely expose your hidden motive! It is totally untrue to say Arsenal has been inconsistent in the last two months. True Arsenal lost to Spurs but that was one loss in how many games? Inconsistency would mean you win today and then lose the next day on a continuous basis which has not been the case with Arsenal. Even though you call yourself disgusted1 you should also be realistic that no team can win all games. Furthermore no rational person can dismiss a team that defeated Man city at home because that gave them a lot of confidence. However I believe Arsenal has the ability and resilience to beat Middlesbrough.

  5. Dying to see Gabriel play and if he does I would assume Monreal to start on the left to assist a little more if there was truly a language barrier…

    1. Good point, the language barrier.
      Seems obvious but sometimes the simplest answers are difficult to find. If only our players looked to the simple more often. Like shooting when in distance and sight. Pressure our opponents, not allowing them time. Stop crosses.

  6. Its possible of course deabreu won’t start.
    There is still Palace before Monaco
    and/or heaven forbid a replay mid week.
    Chambers and Monreal can play CB
    if Kos or Mertz go down so not totally
    necessary for deabreu to start.
    Buro at home or Palace away which is easier?

  7. I think Gabriel should be partnered with Mertz first. They can complement well each other. Mertz will sit back and defend while Gabriel can go forward like Koscielny. Also Gabriel has the pace to recover back.

    I would have played Chambers at CB because he is more comfortable there at CB rather than at RB. But we can have him for RB against Middlesbrough. But let him not attack too much.

    I would play Gibbs as he needs gametime and is quality as well. And he seems very determined to fight for his place. His transition from attack to defense is very good as well.
    With Monreal, you might see more defending than attacking. But I think Gibbs has balanced qualities in him.

      1. Ya “when” he has a good game though he has brain farts on the defensive end constantly. I can’t remember the last game where he was excellent this year. Nacho on the other hand has been immense

  8. It seem logical that Gabriel would best compliment BFG and thus should be started in place of Kos. Maybe so.

    But the reality is no one really knows at this point how things will go. He may just pair up nicely with Kos – sometimes things are counterintuitive. Wenger is closest to them in training and has the best view of how to handle it.

  9. Wenger, this is the part of season that they must give more than they are used to. No wonder we havent won league. The players should be digging deep whenever there is a game that doesnt become a walk in park. I know games generally become more intense when relegation titles or Europe is at stake but they have always been at stake and i believe mourinho and che drive home that factor before every game.

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