The big Spaniard made his Premier League bow in Arsenal’s win over West Ham United today.
It took a while but Pablo Mari finally made his Premier League debut for Arsenal this afternoon.
The Gunners welcomed West Ham United to the Emirates and Mikel Arteta named the Flamengo-owned defender in his first XI for the first time in a league outing.
Mari, who joined Arsenal on a half-season loan in January, started at centre-back alongside David Luiz and had a solid performance overall.
There was one or two hairy moments, but he looks an excellent, ball-playing central defender and aerially the 6’4 Spaniard definitely has his uses too.
Here’s how Arsenal fans reacted to Mari’s league debut on Twitter:
It sounds ridiculous but some Arsenal supporters might feel a bit sorry for Shkodran Mustafi.
The Germany international hasn’t been hugely clumsy in recent weeks which, by his standards, represents progress, but Arteta clearly prefers Mari at the moment.
The good news is that Arsenal finally have a bit of depth in regards to centre-back options and although they’re not exceptional options, it does give Arteta a bit of variety and that can’t be a bad thing.
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