Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand certainly knows a thing or two about what it takes to win the Premier League.
A six-time champion of England’s top-flight under Sir Alex Ferguson, the Red Devils icon formed one of the most successful centre-half partnership in the competitions history alongside two-time PFA Player of the Year Nemanja Vidic.
One swaggering, the other solid, Ferdinand and Vidic complemented each other like fish and chips. Like prime-time, Saturday evening Ant and Dec.
And Ferdinand sees Premier League-winning potential in the two ‘unbelievably aggressive’ centre-halves who, under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, may be blossoming into a modern era reboot of that imperious Old Trafford backline.
As Arsenal edged past Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s North London derby, it felt rather fitting that it was arguably the best player on the pitch – ‘outstanding‘ Brazilian battle-axe Gabriel Magalhaes – who powered the only goal of the game past Guglielmo Vicario following a typically well-worked Gunners set-piece.
William Saliba, the belligerent Bonnie to Gabriel’s colossal Clyde, may not be only be the ‘best pairing’ in England – Ferdinand says – but also the best on the continent too.
William Saliba and Gabriel guide Arsenal to Tottenham triumph
“I think they are the best pairing in Europe,” Ferdinand says on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel. “They complement each other, their styles are perfect for each other. A good mix and blend.
“Saliba had a 97 per cent completion rate of his passes and, in all the other defensive stats, Gabriel was top. So that blend, you can see it there in the data.”
The very best defensive partnerships appear to have that mix of steel and silk. See Vidic and Ferdinand, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho.
Saliba and Gabriel fit that mould too, albeit each while also possessing some of what makes the other so special. Vidic, interestingly, has also spoken in glowing terms about the Arsenal duo.
“I just think they can both do what the other one can do as well. That’s what was so good about me and Nemanja as a partnership. If one is good at something and one is good at the other, you can still blend what you do,” Ferdinand adds.
“But I just love the way (they play together). Gabriel specifically in that second half (against Spurs), the blocks, the timing was perfect. And the way that Saliba celebrated Gabriel was telling as well; ‘It ain’t about me, I don’t need to be the star man’.
“They are sharing that spotlight. And, for a partnership to be successful, you need that, 100 per cent. That’s the scary thing for other teams.”
Mikel Arteta facing Manchester City test
Add in Ben White at right-back and Jurrien Timber on the left, and it is difficult to see a weakness in an Arsenal defence which conceded the fewest goals in the whole of the Premier League last term.
Timber, after a debut season ruined by injury, produced his best Gunners display as Arsenal reduced Ange Postecoglou’s usually free-flowing Spurs side into a ponderous, side-to-side desparation.
“I think Timber is a good addition as well. Defensively, he looks quick, strong aggressive,” Ferdinand argues. “They’ve got a good balance there at the moment. Ben White, consistently always there when they need him.
“That (defence) is the platform for everyone else to go and play.”
The biggest test of Arsenal’s defensive unit will come next weekend, however. Arteta returns to the Etihad to face his old mentor Pep Guardiola at champions Manchester City.
HITC understands, meanwhile, that Arsenal are looking to tie down Gabriel amid interest from Barcelona. Arteta signed his new deal last week.
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