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Arsenal is based on Brazilian stars

The brilliant performance of two Brazilian rookies, Willian and Gabriel Magalhaes, gave Arsenal fans a lot of promise. The power shift in the Arsenal superstructure is hopeful.

Perfect start
Fulham is a rookie of the Premier League 2020/21, but the way Arsenal easily surpassed the team from the same city in the opening match made many “Gunners” fans feel strange.

In the past few years, Arsenal have not often shown such quality performances against weak teams.

Two years ago, despite a 5-1 victory over Fulham, Arsenal and coach Unai Emery made the fans a bit overwhelmed when the opponent shot 21 goals to the goal.

In the first round of the Premier League 2020/21, although the game started off slightly, coach Mikel Arteta’s team dominated the game after that.

Arsenal showed the quality of expertise and coordination in the game that surpassed the opponent. They scored 3 goals from class arrangements and did not concede a single time.

The rookie from Chelsea, Willian, imprinted his shoe in all three of the “Gunners” goals against Fulham. The Brazilian midfielder had a nasty shot that allowed Lacazette to score the opening goal. After that, Willian continued to create 2 goals for Aubameyang and Gabriel.

The 32-year-old’s performance explains how Arteta coach Arteta’s decision to hand over a three-year contract to the player in the summer transfer window of 2020.

“We need players that are experienced and shine immediately,” Arteta said before the game. Arteta’s point of view is very clear. Arsenal need to regain their position immediately. They need players with experience, familiar with the Premier League environment and quick integration with the team.

Willian began to show those advantages. He became the first Arsenal player to have two assists in his Premier League debut, since legendary Ray Parlor in 1992.

Last season, Arsenal was one of the five teams that created the worst Premier League chances (47 times). Not only directly leading to 3 goals for Arsenal, Willian’s mark also lies in his playing as a “modern number 10” in the scheme of coach Arteta.

In the match against Fulham, Willian made 26 forward passes (25 successful passes). He is not a traditional No. 10 model like Mesut Oezil, but makes an impact on Arsenal’s play by speed and pressing ability.

Arsenal ladder Fulham brother 2
Willian’s pass chart against Fulham. Graphics: DomC0801.
Center-back Gabriel is another highlight. In the first match of Arsenal and Premier League debut, the Brazilian successfully blocked the strikers on the Fulham side. The youngster completed his impressive show with a header to score 2-0.

Coach Arteta craved the left-footed midfielder who could read the situation and was good at dealing. Gabriel provides that.

The 22-year-old midfielder was Arsenal’s biggest passer in the match against Fulham with 113 passes, more than the one behind 20. Gabriel’s passing rate accuracy was up to 93.8%, reaching the highest rate of the match.

Fulham tried to pressure the Arsenal defenders to start passing the ball from the home division, but Gabriel’s skills handled most of those pressure situations.

The Edu imprint
Formerly a former Arsenal player, Edu was appointed as Technical Director of the “Gunners” in the summer of 2019.

After Edu worked in the Brazilian national team, Arsenal leaders expect “the old” to take over the macro work that coach Arsene Wenger left.

In early August, Arsenal’s leadership caused controversy when it fired 55 employees of the team, including many veteran scouts. DirectorKT Edu was behind the decision to be somewhat harsh.

The departure of Foreign Relations Director Raul Sanllehi also in August continued to give more power to Edu and Arteta. The former Brazilian player plays an important role in the selection, persuasion and recruitment of players.

Using his reputation and influence in Brazil, Edu successfully persuaded Willian and Gabriel to come to Arsenal in the summer of 2020. Before that, Edu also brought David Luiz and Gabriel Martinelli, two other Brazilian players to Arsenal.