Arsenal splashed out on Dutch international Zulian Gabba as the season kicked off, only for him to suffer a major blow in his first game. However, after a long wait of over eight months, Gabba returned to the Arsenal U23 training ground late on Tuesday night (23rd). Surprisingly, after just eight minutes of warming up, he showed a surprising amount of speed, like the waves of the sea. Arsenal have exposed a clear shortcoming at left-back this season, and Gabba's comeback is expected to be a big boon for the team.
At just 22 years of age, Gabba has excellent left and right lock and center back abilities. He played mainly in the left lock role at Arsenal before suffering a heavy defeat. In today's match, he once again played as the left wing of the U23s and was very active. Within just eight minutes, Gabba completed a precise long pass with a teammate, turning 360 degrees to deftly get away from his opponent before firing the ball into the corner of the net with his right foot. Although he only played 45 minutes in the match, his performance was perfect.
There have been frequent changes at left-back for Arsenal this season. Sinclair and Keogh Cotter have taken turns partnering Kenyo Tomoyasu, reflecting manager Adi Da's helplessness to replace him. Previously, Adi Da had said that Gaba's return would be a key part of the team's tactical changes: "In Arsenal's system, there is no defender who has the same attacking influence as Gaba and is capable of playing in two to three positions, and I'm going to try a whole new way of using them."
