Pablo Marí

[Ach]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... l-23308109

Is this normal?

That's an extra 7.2m if he plays 80 games

[thebigbangtheo]

Nice to see Pablo starting to get the respect he deserves put against his name.

In a lot of respects he reminds of when Steve Bould was signed for us in not being the high profile bright young thing in demand and fawned over that the majority of the fan base back then understandably wanted us to invest in but if anything was the polar opposite.

The reality however was that the lack of glitter, gold and champagne but offer of steel, granite and sweat instead that Bould brought to the party was exactly what we needed but struggled to appreciate at the time.

Defenders not possessing a V12 supercharged engine usually have their deemed lack of pace used as a slight against them as though it was a be all and end all within the art of defending, but far from it. As has generally been recognised, defenders with a built in GPS, great reading of the game and good ability to anticipate, can effectively make not being fleet footed completely irrelevant.

Yes, a tally of our four best central defensive displays in partnership or individually so far, would arguably have Holding and Luiz in 4th and 3rd place respectively with Magalhaes'and Mari as our two best central defensive operators (Tierney's rock steady displays at centre half are irrelevant to this equation).

That they are both naturally left footed and by some thought to be only competition for each other for one of the berths alongside one of the right footed centre backs, the scene is set for Arsenal to once again buck the trend and play with two lefties in the event of the Brazilian being able to adjust his game and readily accommodate operating from the right that I believe he has the greater ability to do and develop than his Spanish partner.

The addition of a right back who understands that his role as a full back is to defend first and foremost, support the midfield ahead and when the opportunity presents itself burst forward in support of the attack, would go a long way to having Gabi settle into that position shift and occasionally give him a bit of a defensive helping hand and guidance when needed, a mirror image of Kieran Tierney if you like would be the profile to match and go a long way to making the right side of the defence and team overall as strong and talented as the left side clearly is.

[KG3]

Had a few decent games and people were trying to tell me he’s our best centre back lol, any other defender knows to close down Tielemans to narrow the angle, especially seeing as Luiz had Vardy covered.

[Arsenal Tone]

I'm happy with him as cover for Gabriel tbf

[Ach]

Never been good enough

[Santi]

I'm happy with him as cover for Gabriel tbf

Which is exactly his role, he’s a good backup.

[Power n Glory]

Played well despite the mistake. Didn't lose the plot and let it go from bad to worse as seen with Ceballos against Benfica. Decent back up, nobody rates him as world class but he's a better defender than that mistake. Still no problem with him starting games just as long as that's a one off.

[ag6789]

All defenders have mistakes in them. Includes Luiz Holding and Gabriel. So forget it and move on. At least he is mobile and decent on the ball.

[Zenith]

Marí vs Vardy -

[Callum]

Marí vs Vardy -

He's faster than he looks!

[Salibatelli]

Don’t have a problem with him to be honest, I’d be moving Holding, Chambers and Luiz on in the summer and bringing back Saliba and then finding another CB from somewhere.

[Ach]

Still don't understand why he ran away from Tielemans for the goal as Luiz had Vardy.

But he didn't let the f**k up ruin his game. He's not very good but decent back up

[thebigbangtheo]

Understandably, I thought Keiran Tierney looked a little bit rusty and not yet acclimatised on his return to the side after his month or so absence, so I wasn't exactly dumbfounded when added to being left exposed and up against the Man City right hand side that he looked more Katy than KT regards his involvement in their goal.

For all those of us who've acclaimed Gabriel Magalhaes' as the best centre back we've had in years, let's hope none of our rivals do a meme to that quote using footage from his last 3 or 4 games or so.

As someone has already alluded to, all defenders will make the odd mistake. By my reckoning at least if not pro rata, Pablo Mari has made less mistakes than Holding, Magalhaes' and Luiz.

In that he seems to take charge of defensive organisation and encourage constant communication similar to Luiz, I think that the less vociferous Leno achieves greater focus with the likes of Mari in front of him.

[theHotHead]

Don’t have a problem with him to be honest, I’d be moving Holding, Chambers and Luiz on in the summer and bringing back Saliba and then finding another CB from somewhere.

Luiz is still our best CB, makes no sense to let him go.

[Salibatelli]

Don’t have a problem with him to be honest, I’d be moving Holding, Chambers and Luiz on in the summer and bringing back Saliba and then finding another CB from somewhere.

Luiz is still our best CB, makes no sense to let him go.

I find him unreliable, he makes basic errors all the time, most of the time he gets away with them.

Personally would prefer someone more solid who doesn’t have those concentration lapses he suffers from.