Yet some fans did not rate him. They labelled him a liability. an accident waiting to happen.
Since he has joined us, he has never let us down and is a monster of a central defender. Yes, he has committed errors that led to goals, but every defender has that. If you only rate players who have never made a mistake, then the players you rate will be zero.
Gabriel and William Saliba compliment each other perfectly.
Whilst Saliba is slicker, and more aesthetically pleasing, Gabriel is the bully, the more physical one, and the leader of defence.
They are the best central defensive partnership in world football.
Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling
Winning 1-nil, on came Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling. the expectation would have been that they use their pace upfront to provide a threat on the counter attack. Instead the pair read the game situation and put in 15 minutes of brilliant defensive work.
When Ethan Nwaneri came on for Bukayo Saka, we risks losing a bit defensively. Both Jesus and Sterling recognised this and immediately dropped deeper, with the young Englishman often then our highest player on the pitch. This protected Nwaneri who is still developing physically and defensively.
Whilst that meant Jesus and Sterling did little to influence the game in an attacking sense, the pair, alongside Kai Havertz, created a pressing trio that sat in front of Jorginho and Thomas Partey making us impenetrable.
Ethan Nwaneri
Our lack of attacking signings caused some concern for fans this summer. But many of them had forgotten about Ethan Nwaneri.
It is two years since Nwaneri became the youngest ever player in the Premier League, coming on against Brentford in September 2022. Since then, Arsenal have taken their time with his development, allowing him to continue to grow both physically and mentality.
Now 17, he is ready to make an impact this season.
Nwaneri’s cameo against Spurs was no fear. He did not hide and looked to get on the ball at every opportunity. His first thought was always “forward” and he relived the pressure a couple of times with his youthful energy.
This season he will play the duel role of covering Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and the result with be Fabio Vieira departing next summer.
We have an exciting player on our hands. We just need to continue being careful with him.
Cobra Kai
I feel very vindicated.
Throughout the summer, when we were not close to signing a striker, I kept making the point: Anyone that come sin must be a better option than Kai Havertz.
And being better than Havertz is not just his goal scoring exploits. It is also his work rate, his versatility, movement and ability to create for others. Yes, he might not be an out and out goal scorer like Erling Haaland, but he has much more to his game than just goals.
After the Spurs game he looked exhausted. He had not stopped running for 90 minutes and covered every blade of grass.
When Odegaard and Havertz play together, they take it in turns to be the “first presser”, with the other sitting in behind getting a breather. With a deeper central midfield, no Odegaard or Declan Rice, the onus fell on Havertz and he did not dissapoint.
He was central, deep, wide and worked from box to box, whilst still providing an attacking threat. His height also gave David Raya an outlet when we wanted to go longer – and he won over 50% of his aerial duels.
Kai is simply a brilliant all-round centre forward.
Keenos
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