Opinion – Pablo Mari should start against West Ham United on Saturday

Pablo Mari deserves to start against West Ham tomorrow.

After waiting for his chance, Pablo Mari finally made his Arsenal debut in the FA Cup game against Portsmouth.

The Spaniard was superb in his first game and helped the Gunners record a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Pompey.

After the game, he earned some good praise from David Luiz, Mikel Arteta as well as some of the club’s fans.

He would expect to get more chances and there will be tougher opponents for him to deal with, but I think he should start Arsenal’s next game against West Ham.

Mari would offer some form of unpredictability to Arsenal’s team sheet. David Moyes would have prepared his team with David Luiz and Mustafi in mind and the introduction of Mari could make it difficult for the Hammers as they won’t know what to expect from him.

His composure is also something that is missing in most of his other teammates. If he is started against the Hammers, I believe that he would bring some much-needed calmness to the backline and that could be of great importance to us in this game.

I also think that Mari has one of the best passing range among our current defenders and he would be a great choice when we want to play the ball from the back.

Mari may have played just the one game for us, but I believe he will need a run of games to become even more important to the team and West Ham isn’t a step too far for him.

An article from Ime

15 Comments

  1. Arteta should give him a run in the team, as ALL of our CB’s have been absolute trash!

  2. Mustafi trained today so I expect him to be paired with Luiz.
    No time for experiment in the epl. We desperately need those 3 pts.

  3. I disagree with Ime on this one. It was nice to see our new CB get his much awaited debut. He put in a composed display and got a cleansheet.

    That being that we should be cautious with how we approach the next games. MA mentioned how he lacks knowledge of the way we want to play. It is no time to experiment and tweak our back 4: Hector, Mustafi, Luiz & Saka seem to be our winning formula at the moment and I would like to keep it that way until an injury or suspension changes things.

  4. I think mustafi needs to start,he did very well in the recent games and his aerial defensive abilities are superb.
    And mari might have to start as he can also make our set pieces nightmare less vulnerable.

    1. Agree with you.

      Mustafi needs to start as he’s the fastest CB we have, which will be essential in the absence of Torreira at DM, and he’s also been good aerially lately.
      If Mari comes in, he should replace Luiz, but Arteta will go with Mustafi and Luiz, I think.

  5. Mari really impressed me in the fa cup. Even though it was against a non epl team I still loved his calmness. I wouldn’t support giving him a start though as Luiz and Mustafi are playing well. I don’t see a reason to disrupt the rhythm. When u see a player performing well its best to keep playing him until he starts underperforming

  6. Only if Arteta will consider playing three defenders against Westham.

    3-5-1-1

    Mustafi Luiz Mari
    Nelson Xhaka Saka
    Pepe Ceballos
    Auba
    Nkeitah

  7. no rush …introduce him slowly

    he needs to build up the team work first

    poor communication and coordination with the other defenders and midfielders can result in conceding goals

  8. Sue, Hector has done very little to take the RB position. I don’t know why AMN has been frozen out of the squad.
    Bellerin needs to up his game cos he’s one the senior players we have. He is slowly becoming out weakest link in the team now.

  9. I’ve pumped a load of money into him on Footy index so hope he does come in, scores and keeps a clean sheet 😂

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