The great rivalry of the early 2000s was Arsenal vs Manchester United. It was Arsene Wenger against Sir Alex Ferguson. They loved to hate each other.
That’s understandable too. Before Chelsea arrived on the scene with Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich, the two red-draped teams traded blows, re-claiming the Premier League title from each other on countless occasions.
So, in the modern era, you can forgive certain pundits for having an element of bias about Manchester United and Arsenal.
Gary Neville is one who has been particularly scathing of the Gunners in recent years. Arsenal have been set-piece kings but the former defender slated them for being too “rigid” and “obsessed” with scoring from set-play scenarios.
Well, while they are still brilliant from those phases, their now larger squad means they look better set up to take advantage of other goalscoring opportunities.
He’s not been afraid to criticise players either. He claimed David Raya was a “nervous wreck” during his debut season at the club but he is now one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Rio Ferdinand, of course, has also fallen victim to getting things wrong.
When Ferdinand slated Arsenal's big-money star
Let’s set the scene for you. The year is 2022/23. Arsenal are playing arguably the best football of the Arteta era. They should win the title.
Yet, a draw in April 2023 was perhaps where things started to go wrong. The Gunners took on Declan Rice’s West Ham at the London Stadium and really should have walked away with all three points.
Arsenal raced into a 2-0 lead courtesy of strikes from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard but they were pegged back and eventually drew the game 2-2.
A penalty was conceded by Gabriel Magalhaes who slid in on Said Benrahma and the match, and perhaps Arsenal’s season changed from there. It wasn’t the first time the big Brazilian had given away a penalty either, notably giving one away against Manchester City earlier in the campaign.
Bemoaning that moment against the Hammers, Ferdinand was very vocal about what he thought about the central defender.
“They had the game in a stranglehold, they had West Ham where they wanted them, going into half time 2-0 up, you coast that game. But rash… and I’ve said this about Gabriel a few times. He’s rash, he makes mad, wild decisions. As a defender, you’ve got to be calm. There’s no need for him to do what he did. It was a rush of blood, he needs to eradicate that, get that out of his game quick.”
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Ferdinand continued: “As a manager you don’t want to see that. Because those types of things ruin the head too many times, it starts becoming part of their make-up, and you’re going, ‘hold on, can I rely on this guy?’. I think he’s had a fabulous season, Gabriel. But those types of decisions can be very costly, he’s in the run-in now. That will hurt, the way they dropped points.”
Why Gabriel is now the best in the Premier League
Well, it’s safe to say that Gabriel has certainly eradicated those mistakes in recent years.
It’s true that during the embryonic stages of his career at the Emirates Stadium he was rash and wild with some of his play. Yet, over the last few seasons, the £65m-rated defender has become a genuine monster at the back.
Not forgetting his astute defending, he is the best goalscoring defender in the Premier League.
After scoring that header against Newcastle United in the dying embers a few weeks ago, it meant that he has scored 18 Premier League goals, at least six more than any other defender since he made his English top-flight debut back in September 2020
Meanwhile, in the last three seasons, Gabriel has scored eight goals in the Premier League. No centre back has managed more.
But, let us remember that he is indeed a defender. First and foremost, he will be judged on that and he’s pretty damn good in that department too.
In fact, he may well have become more important than William Saliba to the cause. The Frenchman has been earning considerable hype for a number of years now but Gabriel – a man who has now captained Arsenal on a few occasions – looks like the glue that binds things together.
1. Bukayo Saka
250
2. Gabriel Magalhaes
219
3. Gabriel Martinelli
216
4. Martin Odegaard
204
5. Thomas Partey
166
6. Ben White
162
7. Eddie Nketiah
149
8. Granit Xhaka
147
9. William Saliba
142
10. Kieran Tierney
132
Jamie Carragher outlined that last season when the former Lille man was out injured with a severe hamstring injury.
“I think he [Saliba] is one of the top centre-backs in European football. As a partnership, him and Gabriel is as good as anything in the Premier League. I think Saliba is the better player but Gabriel is the better leader, and Saliba needs to bring that to his game if he wants to get to the levels we talk about with Virgil van Dijk.”
A leader of men, a dogged competitor, a true fighter and a player who now makes very few rash mistakes, he is right up there with Saliba and Van Dijk as the best centre-back in the English top-flight.
