Why Gabriel Got Angry With Martin Odegaard

This season, Arsenal has been dominant and in control of most matches, but they were not with the game against Leeds United on Sunday as Gabriel Magalhaes got furious with his teammate, Martin Odegaard.

Leeds thoroughly outplayed Arsenal in the second half, and it took desperation defending, fantastic goalkeeping, and a bit of luck for the Gunners to escape with the 1-0 win.

Gabriel Magalhaes has a reputation for hot-headedness and had seemingly undone Arsenal’s hard work by kicking out at Patrick Bamford, giving away a penalty, and receiving a red card in added time, but VAR came to his rescue, and his overall performance was quality, making four crucial blocks, three interceptions and three tackles while the Gunners had their backs against the wall.

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Why Gabriel Got Angry With Martin Odegaard

It’s easy to forget in and among the chaos of the final few moments, but Gabriel was actually superb on Sunday.

While there are some days you can swim serenely through games with the elegance that the likes of William Saliba and Ben White have done for most of this season, there are others where you simply have to thrash and splash your way out of murky waters. That was exactly what Gabriel did.

The Brazilian one each and every one of his aerial duels succeeded in eight of his nine duels overall, made four clearances, four blocks, three tackles, and three interceptions in a near-perfect defensive display. He also showed his leadership by enforcing high standards even with Arsenal’s captain as he bellowed furiously at Martin Odegaard for giving the ball away cheaply in the build to a clearance he had had to make from Luis Sinisterra’s goal-bound shot.

It was a performance that exhibited the very best of his capabilities but, with seconds to go in the match he also showed off some of the very worst.

As Patrick Bamford careered into the 24-year-old, he retaliated by kicking out in a flash of petulance that saw him momentarily give away a potentially fatal penalty and receive a red card. VAR intervened, but this incident was demonstrative of the tightrope Gabriel has walked between magnificence and madness this season.

Many have criticized him for the errors he has made in games against Fulham, Tottenham, and Liverpool, and for all the excellence that he is capable of, these mistakes demonstrate the propensity for rashness that exists in his game.

However, such tunnel-visioned focus on the faults blinds us to days like Sunday when he exhibits what he brings to the team.

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The Brazilian has now become a source of immense debate among the Arsenal fanbase as they engage in their favored pass time of squad building for the future. Such conversations are reminiscent of those had over another player who had until recently divided the Gunners fanbase down the middle for many years.

With his animated personality, willingness to scrap, and moments of hot-headedness there are undoubted parallels between Gabriel and Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder had his staunch defenders, but until recently he had plenty of critics too.

Gabriel appears to be destined to take over the role as this lightning rod for discussion among the Arsenal supporters now which perhaps feels a little harsh. The Gunners need players like him to get them through the days when things aren’t going so smoothly, and Sunday was yet another reminder of exactly that.