Central defender as scorer
©TM/IMAGO
As Arsenal revived their title hopes with a 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday, something incredible happened in the stands at the Emirates Stadium. As the match progressed, the fans’ cheers became more frenzied during corners for the Gunners, almost as if the ball was already in the net. Londoners have reached a new dimension in standard situations. Among the most important protagonists: central defender Gabriel Magalhães and assistant coach Nicolas Jover.
After eleven minutes, defense chief Gabriel opened the scoring against the “Eagles” with a header from a Declan Rice corner. Two minutes later, the next goal almost came after a Bukayo Saka corner, which Jefferson Lerma almost maneuvered into his own goal, before Gabriel forced exactly that on Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson after a Saka corner at the 38th minute. 2:0. Arsenal had Palace almost in the bag with two corners.
It’s a recurring motif in Mikel Arteta’s team this season. Arsenal lead the Premier League with the most goals from set pieces (excluding penalties). Formerly under the leadership of legend Arsène Wenger, the ‘Gunners’ defense was considered particularly vulnerable to corners. Since the signing of French Standard coach Jover in 2021, who former Guardiola assistant Arteta brought with him from Manchester City, things have been very different for the north Londoners.
How coach Jover turned Arsenal’s usual weakness into a strength
Set pieces could now be seen as key to Islington’s title ambitions. On average, there are ten to eleven corners in a Premier League match. Statistically, about five and a half for each team. Anyone who manages to turn their five to six corners per game into dangerous scoring chances will at least not reduce their chances of victory. And this is the objective of the last seasons of the “Gunners”, who seem to lead the team towards perfection, also thanks to the defensive scorer Gabriel.
It’s not often that manager Arteta retreats to the bench during his team’s game. He can do this with confidence in standard situations. Then Jover gets up. He leads and his work bears fruit. Last season, Arsenal scored 15 league goals from set pieces – trailing only Liverpool (17), Tottenham (16) and Brentford (16). The season before Jover left Man City for London was completely different: only two teams, Fulham and Sheffield United, scored fewer goals from set pieces, as they say in English.
After the victory against Palace, winger Saka told TNT Sports: “We work a lot on set pieces. Nico, our standard coach, does a very good job. He tries to make it entertaining and he enjoys it. What he’s doing is obviously working, so we’ll continue to do it. » In November, Leandro Trossard spoke about Jover. The attacking player said: “It’s a pleasure to work with him. He’s really intelligent on shots. set feet. (…) That helped us a lot. » Trossard was also an important part of Arsenal’s dangerous corners on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium. When Gabriel made it 1-0, the Belgian turned smartly and blocked the diving path of Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen.
Arsenal’s Gabriel among best centre-backs in Premier League
The signing of central defender Gabriel from Lille for €26 million in the summer of 2020 is increasingly proving to be a major transfer coup as the seasons go by. The Brazilian forms one of the most formidable defensive duos in world (Site notre bureau spécialisé) with Frenchman William Saliba. His aggressive fore(Site notre bureau spécialisé) defense is the perfect complement to Saliba’s calm and collected nature. But it’s not just his solid defensive work that makes Gabriel stand out in an Arsenal shirt. He has become a growing threat in the opposition penalty area, his jumping ability and timing of his headers a nightmare for opposition defenders.
Over the past three seasons, no central defender has scored more Premier League goals than Gabriel, who has scored ten since arriving in London. Ben Mee and Virgil van Dijk came closest with eight and seven goals respectively during the period. Gabriel’s Premier League goals per game record of 0.10 is bettered by only three centre-backs in league history who have played 100 games or more: Thomas Vermaelen (0.12 goals per game), Frank Leboeuf (0.12 goals per game) and Matt Elliot (0.11 goals per game). The most goals by any centre-back since the inception of the Premier League was scored by John Terry, who scored 41 times but also needed 492 games to do so.
Gabriel could hardly have been a bigger presence in Arsenal’s team last season and is the third player with the most consecutive league games for the Gunners. He made 75 consecutive appearances from 2021 until his omission in the 2-2 draw against Fulham earlier this season. Gabriel is a crucial figure for the team in both areas. His market value has increased by 100% to €60 million over the past two years and could rise further in the next Premier League update.
Man City and Arsenal dominate: the Premier League’s most valuable players
To the home page