Tim Sherwood has stated that if he was an Arsenal fan then defender Gabriel Magalhães would ‘worry’ him and William Saliba is ‘the best out of the two’.
Last season, Gabriel played alongside Ben White at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, as Mikel Arteta’s side narrowly missed out on Champions League football.
Given that the duo didn’t start the campaign, during the overall picture of the season, they did pretty well and perhaps even shut some doubters up who questioned them.
But, with William Saliba, who had been out on-loan for the past two seasons, chopping at the bit, then Arteta had to open the door for him.
That resulted in Gabriel having a new partner at the back for this season and White moving to right-back, where he has put in a number of strong performances.
But whilst Saliba gets all the plaudits, including some even comparing him to Virgil van Dijk, his partner in crime is being questioned, as Sherwood told the Weekend Review on Premier League Productions.
“If I was an Arsenal fan, then Gabriel would worry me, put it that way,” said Sherwood. “I think Saliba is the best out of the two, at the moment.
“But I think there is a mistake in there.”
ANSWER THE CRITICS ON THE PITCH
Arsenal are sitting at the top of the Premier League table and the only way Gabriel can answer his critics is out on the pitch, and so far, he is doing that.
There have been a few iffy moments this season, that mistake against Fulham and Aleksandar Mitrovic in August is something he needs to take responsibility for – but he made up for it by scoring the winner at the other end.
Some may also point towards the Brazil World Cup hopeful giving away a penalty against Tottenham last month, but once again, it was Granit Xhaka’s mistake that forced him to lunge in on Richarlison.
So, whilst on paper it seems as though he is at fault, he wasn’t helped by his teammate on that occasion.
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