Manchester United’s legendary defender Rio Ferdinand has come out after our 1-0 win over Brentford on Saturday night and said that Arsenal look to be in with a better chance of winning the league than Manchester City, and he’s said that’s due to the fact we have the partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba as centre backs.
Praising the centre back duo and saying that their partnership along with the added security of Declan Rice in front of them, could be the winning formula to walk away with the title this Premier League season. The ex-England international said this to TNT Sports after the 1-0 win over Brentford “Me and [Peter] Crouchy were sitting here thinking about how good these two are, they want to be aggressive, they want to defend with that high line”
“They have the best defensive record in the league at the moment and Declan Rice is perfect in front of them in the middle at the moment. That little triangle is going to be key for them going forward and it’s how they’re going to be successful”.
“In today’s game having pace is how you get ahead of the other teams, especially at the back. It means you can play that high line and for the last two seasons, Brentford’s attack has given teams so many problems”.
“[Ivan] Toney, [Yoane] Wissa and [Bryan] Mbeumo, they’ve all given teams nightmares because of their pace and aggressive run-ins. Today, one of them gets past Saliba – who is there to mop it up? Gabriel. He gives it back to Saliba and they work it out between them. To win anything, you have to have a centre-back pairing that you can trust. They’re the reason why I put them above Liverpool in the title race and they’re why they can challenge City this year”.
And I can’t help but agree with him, defending wins you titles and with Gabriel, Saliba and Rice looking so solid when defending, we look to have found the formula that works for us and Arteta’s system. Gabriel and Saliba have formed a great partnership at the back and as the games go by their bond seems to be getting better and better. They look to both be able to read each other next moves and know exactly where the other one is at all times, building a bond that from the outside looks unbreakable so far this season.
And with Rice playing the holding defensive role, it gives them both more leeway to be creative and take time, making the squad look more stable at the back as a result and for the first season in a long time, our defence is almost as good as our attack.
What’s your thoughts on Rio’s comments Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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