See, at this point, just give it up. I have a whole video playlist of Gabriel literally behaving like Mustafi time and time again.
If I should do a thread of it, I'd probably affect his confidence and reputation and I do not want that. Arsenal first.
It's going to be one very long thread that I will never publish.
I'd rather do a thread and make you think it's just my opinion (rather than the cold, hard truth) than do something that may affect the fortunes of my football club.
I used Arsenal's ailments as a chance to explain some basic football concepts/theory with the knowledge that Arsenal will fix these issues under Arteta and those explanations would get even more relevant with time.
One of the reasons many knowledgeable guys got Arteta's Arsenal
The game model was so successful precisely due to exceptional/flawless recruitment and the big fact that they, after City, were the only complete team in all phases in the country.
They had first mover advantage.
The league has increased so much in tactical quality since then.
Even little flaws are going to be ruthlessly exploited. And when the margin of winning is Manchester City, there is no room for imperfection. None at all.
They have assembled what can be argued as the best first 11 in the world and despite the ethereal quality they possess, they
cannot keep pace with the perfection that is City.
The criticism is not that the game model is not good. It is that it is not as good as City's in the fine details of its intents: Liverpool still rely too much on the chaos going their way.
Rice and Fabinho can both do the defensive part, Rodri doesn't have the nose to properly replicate it, Rice and Fab can't sustain the same quality of dribbling and progressive passing against top sides, Rodri replicates the passing and some of the dribbling/shielding.
Wjnaldum was the only guy who could really reproduce that same performance (we all know he can't hit Partey's progressive passing, though) but he left. Kante as well but with the same issue as Wjnaldum.
Rodri a close third but he can't sustain the same defensive intensity in a
frantic game because he doesn't have the positioning and composure nous at that levelm.
Fabinho a fading fourth. Can do it against smaller sides, though, especially with his passing.
The blueprint is literally there. You have a 1v1 winger in Vinicius who can play against the touchline. You have Mendy who is shit on the ball but very athletic. 3-2-5/3-1-6 in possession with Mendy part of the back 3. Mbappé/Asensio as inside forwards on the right.
Rodrygo, too. Get in a proper RB to hold the width on the right. Proper Vinicius understudy in Sulemana. Casemiro understudy in Tchouameni, too. Aouar on cheap.