Gabriel Magalhaes avoids scapegoat status to become Arsenal and league’s best central defender

Gabriel Magalhaes represented the start of Mikel Arteta's project in 2020 and has since been the consistent figure in his side, smashing scapegoat tags and currently putting his name above everyone else in his position

Gabriel Magalhaes is currently, on form, the best central defender in the league. In 2023 he has shown himself to be a consistent performer, a dominating presence at the back and has significantly developed the weaker aspects of his game, such as his distribution, to a very good level.

Back in October, I wrote a piece which attempted to stop the growing criticism of Gabriel, pointing out how the Brazilian had responded to his errors and how he was outperforming other top-level centre-halves at the same time. It’s fair to say that he has only improved since then and, certainly since the World Cup, performed slightly better than the frequently lauded William Saliba.

He was already outperforming the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Ruben Dias, Cristian Romero and Kalidou Koulibaly in certain metrics. Now, the Brazilian is arguably the league’s best in his position on form and certainly a huge part of the success in 2023 which has seen Arsenal maintain their five-point lead over Manchester City after the 11 games since the World Cup interrupted the season.

Arsenal brought in the Polish international Jakub Kiwior into the squad in January from Spezia, a left-footed centre-half with great distribution. It was this aspect of Gabriel’s game that was arguably the most scrutinized. However, Mikel Arteta has not needed to consider a swap, not only due to his excellent defending record but because his progressive passing has also been consistent and effective.

Should Arsenal go on to the late stages of the season as genuine title challengers, which certainly based on the season so far they are capable of it, then Gabriel is going to be a huge factor in that. Thinking back just to the previous manager, Unai Emery, and the back four he travelled to Anfield with in December 2018 it included Stephan Lichtsteiner, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Sead Kolasinac.

He was the first signing Arteta made that he’s trusted to fulfil his side throughout his tenure. Cedric Soares, Pablo Mari and Willian who came before him aren’t with the club any more, with the Brazilian leaving on a free in 2021. Meanwhile, Mari and Cedric have left on loan with views to permanent summer exits.

Gabriel was the true start of the process that has found its way to a club challenging for a title less than three years on. It is a testament to his quality, consistency and improvement.