Arsenal have confirmed (via Instagram) that new signing Gabriel Paulista will wear the number 5 after signing from Villarreal.
The Brazilian defender wore the number 20 at El Madrigal, but more interestingly chose to sport ‘π’ on the back of his shirt at first club Vitoria.
Arseblog News has learnt that this was because he could recall the ratio of a circle’s circumference to 45 decimal places (a record in his state) and also because he liked a good steak and kidney treat post-game.
The likes of Steve Bould, Martin Keown, Kolo Toure and Thomas Vermaelen have worn the number 5 shirt for the Gunners in the past…between them they won 25 major honours with the Gunners. So, no pressure on the lad.
Arse!
Oh wait… Damn!
Number 5, a Bould move.
Hopefully EA update him on Fifa 15… Mertesacker has the highest red and yellow cards on my ultimate team… Need DAT pace
He is 77 in seasons so his UT transfer card will probably be given an upgrade.
FIFA, lol.. They don’t really like arsenal though, do they? A lot of our players got an undeserved ‘rating’. While the likes of Chelski always seems to get quite high rate. Alexis Sanchez is only 86 on the latest FIFA UT. I’d rate him as one of the best players in the world right now. If Eden Hazard is 88 or whatever, then alexis sanchez gotta be 90. He is probably the most complete player I’ve seen in my entire time following football. I’d say he will definetly be up there with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo if he continues… Read more »
It might be worth noting he also went from a high attacng work rate and medium defensive workrate to Low atatcking and high defensive.
Yeah, playing with Arsenal is kinda annoying, especially on PES as Chambers isn’t listed as a CB, leaving you with two guys who can play there in the entire squad.
No no no, at least not on fifa. On fifa we’re pretty much the best. You just have to make the most of our large quantity of technically gifted midfielders. Santi Cazorla is up there with the best false 9s in the game so it’s the formation to choose – plus it allows you to expand the midfield and dominate the game. In defense, play Koscielny and Debuchy at centre-back – both have decent passing stats for defenders, and both are quick which we all know is pretty handy on fifa. The best option at left-back is Gibbs, although Flamini… Read more »
do you get out much mate?
I think you should play Dota. It’s easy to waste thousands of hours on that, in case you have a life left at all after FIFA.
Haha I remember Fifa 11, Abou Diaby was absolutely unstoppable. Something about his long legs meant you could just give him the ball and run the length of the pitch around their entire midfield and defence and slot it home.
Never seemed to get injured either…
Opinions. But does anyone think he could upsurp Bfg’s position by the end of the season?
Opinions. Does anyone think he can get his hair up to Arsenal standards by the end of the season?
Who knows. He may even be alongside Per for an extended period while Kos gets his Achilles sorted
Unlikely, with the option of actually being rested open to Mertesacker and playing with actual CBs who are out of their teens next to him, I expect him to maintain his recent good form.
Never know though, if he can give us what Mretesacker does but with a bit of added pace and steel then he’d take anybody’s place in just about any team.
i think we have good competition for the CB slot now and its as wide open as ever- both Mert and Kos are under threat, either of them could lose their place. It might drive them on and improve them as well. That would not go amiss would it.
CB position does rather depend on a good partnership between them. Hopefully we’ll get 3 good pairings and can swap them around depending upon the opposition.
G P 5 ? Should have good positional sense.
Would like to thank Monreal for the great job he did at CB, performance wise, he did realy well in a second position for him and with being targeted by opposing teams because for some reason there is an opinion that he is bad at defending. Debuchy as well did well against his former club. Welcome and good luck Gabriel.
Considering it wasn’t his position, he did alright, and it’s made him a better player at LB too, I think. Very glad to have a proper CB back there though.
He’s a good defender or a good attacker but he doesn’t have the speed to do both well (as gibbs can when he’s fit and on form). So when he’s sprinted back and just about caught the winger he then either dives in or commits to early in haste. In many ways he’s a better pure defender than gibbs but that’s not the way we play. If the opposition hadn’t targeted him and forced a few errors from him in his first 2 or 3 games then we’d all be saying what a great CB option he is.
Here,here!
Now that the ArchAngel Gabriel is on our side, perhaps he could have a sit down with the injury gods and ask them to treat us with a little more respect from now on.
The Welsh Jesus and the ArchAngel. Sunday school is in session.
Seriously arseblog has been confusing me with this fake stuff mixed with real news. I appreciate that’s your style but some of us find it hard to source fiction from facts if it comes without warning.
…comes without warning…hm…
That’s just standard protocol regarding soccer journalism
Mate, you are having a laugh aren’t you? The fact that Arseblog can so convincingly tell a story laced with fiction deserves a round of applause. Half the reason I come to this site is to enjoy the style of writing and the humour. The other half is because I hate my job and secretly want to be him.
Pay no heed to the news hound’s rubbish. The real reason he wore ‘π’ on the back of his shirt was because he was a big fan of director Darren Aronofsky and wanted to pay tribute somehow.
This Guillem Balague interview just made my day
“Some centre backs are happy to sit deep and soak up pressure before making headed clearances. Not Gabriel – he wants to play high up the pitch and sneak in ahead of opponents to win the ball quickly. In that sense, he shares some qualities with Laurent Koscielny.
“But Gabriel’s game is about physicality, too: he thunders into challenges, is hugely commanding in the air, and there’s a ruggedness about his game which is somewhat stereotypical of South American centre backs.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20150127/gabriel
I’d like it if we went 3 at the back with Per, Gab & Kos. The numerically ordered shirt numbers would be so satisfying.
And with Gibbs LWB and Rosicky RWB… OH MY GAWD!
Three at the back, are you van Gaal in disguise?
Are you suggesting I have no neck?
I like my shirt numbers in order and if that compromises our tactics, so be it! (3, 4, 5, 6, 7….I thought it was obvious?)
and Szczesny at 1. Hnnnnnnnnnggggggg
Let’s face it, nobody would recognise Van Syrup without his hair.
He could be anybody……
I wouldn’t want an extra CB playing because we have so many midfielders. Rosicky at RWB? You’re having a laugh mate
Rosicky RWB ???
Nothing satifies my OCD as defenders with proper numbers. I had an orgasm seeing Debouchy as. No.2 and Gibbs as No.3 at the start of the season.
Sad thing is i am the same as you in that regard, meaning Per has to give his shirt up to a DM…
Tony Adam’s shirt???
just clone TR7 and we’re good to go
Monreal- Thank you for the great job in the CB position.
BFG/ koscielny- Now develop that kind of kinship with Gabriel you two have demonstrated with each other. I cannot forget that hands over the shoulders between them two at the WC in Brazil when they were walking off the pitch at HT.
even when the players were lifting the FA cup by turns, as it came to Kosc, he passed it to the BFG and both lifted it together, that was just the perfect thing for me
Knowing our luck he’ll get injured after a few minutes on field.
has our collective level of pessimism really come to this? 🙁
Excellent signing.. Looks like something out of greek mythology; part footballer, part beast; can’t wait for him to go head2head with Costa.. It should be “ratio of circumference to diameter” btw..(yes,i know)
I like the whole ‘first name on the back of the shirt’ thing. Quite nice
Hahahh, just gave me this thought
Jack
10
The number of legends. A high 5 to that.
The problems Koscielny faced against BHA illustrate that our defensive issues have not been a result of Per being slow or Flamini non dynamic. Rather the problem since day one of the season has been an unfamiliarity in the back 4 with some players having to either playout of position or with inexperience because we lacked a Cback of enough quality to rotate through Meterscielny. Gabriel will hopefully be the solution with ample pace and aggression to alternate for Koscielny and hopefully enough height and positioning nous to rotate with Per. He may have in time also utility covering in… Read more »
HE stole my Number