football | Thursday, January 19, 2023 1:43 PM

Mikael Silvestre: Missing Out on Mudryk Won’t Hurt Arsenal, Edu Only Wants Players Who Are Fully Committed

Devang Prasad

Ahead of the big clash this weekend between Arsenal and Manchester United at The Emirates, we sat down with a player that has played for both clubs in Mikael Silvestre. The former French international gave bettingexpert an expert analysis of Arsenal’s success this season.

In this article:

Is Gabriel Magalhaes underappreciated?
Does Gabriel Martinelli play better with Jesus in the Arsenal side?
How well had Eddie Nketiah done to deputise for the injured Gabriel Jesus?
Is there a better player in the Premier League right now than Martin Ødegaard?
Arsenal missed out on their priority target Mykhaylo Mudryk as Chelsea hijacked that bid. Do you think that is a big blow for Edu and Mikel Arteta?

Is Gabriel Magalhaes underappreciated?

The traditional opinion of centre back partnerships is that one of the defenders needs to be cool, calm and collected. The other has to be the warrior. The one to attempt to win all and every challenge. It seems as though Arsenal have discovered that with the partnership between Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.

Silvestre has been impressed with Gabriel but notes the Brazilian has room for improvement in his game.

“I think he’s a very good player. Sometimes he’s going into challenges with all his heart instead of his head but it’s because he’s got a lot of passion and then they can be at the wrong positions – around the box or in the box.”

“Once he will master this with more experience, more games he will be fine.”

“He’s putting the shift in for Arsenal and that’s why they are where they are at the moment. On the challenges, he’s very, very strong and wins a lot of those.”

Does Gabriel Martinelli play better with Jesus in the Arsenal side?

Partnerships and on the pitch chemistry can take time to develop. The understanding of where your teammates like to receive the ball, how they prefer to release it, the type of runs they like to make. It’s not always something that just comes instinctively.

For Arsenal and Jesus, it seemed to be quite seamless. Jesus adapted to his teammates and the demands of Mikel Arteta immediately. Since the injury to Jesus, Eddie Nketiah has stepped in and done a great job for the Gunners. Silvestre notes that it might take some time for Nketiah and Martinelli to develop the on the pitch relationship that came so naturally to Martinelli and Jesus.

“No, I don’t think he plays better with Gabriel Jesus than with Eddie Nketiah.”

“With Nketiah playing, it takes a bit of time to get used to each other, finding this automatic relation on the pitch is just a matter of time really.”

How well had Eddie Nketiah done to deputise for the injured Gabriel Jesus?

When it was announced that Gabriel Jesus would be spending a substantial amount of time out injured, many Arsenal fans and pundits were worried about how the Gunners would fill the void left by the Brazilian. However, Arsenal have continued to flourish without Jesus and that’s partly to do with Nketiah.

“He’s done really well for the team. The whole aspect of the game – defensively he’s working hard, offensively he’s creating space, coming short, going long and behind the defenders in pockets of space, combining with Saka, Martinelli and Ødegaard.”

“I think for him it’s getting more and more game time. You could see at some point in the game, after 60 minutes, he got a bit tired, so his first touch wasn’t great.”

“The more he plays, the better he will be.”

Is there a better player in the Premier League right now than Martin Ødegaard?

The form of Martin Odegaard has been vital to Arsenal’s title charge this season. The Norwegian was handed the Arsenal captaincy in the summer and had led by example through his on the pitch performances. Odegaard has eight league goals in 17 appearances this season alongside five assists making him one of the league’s most productive attacking players. However, this isn’t a surprise to former Gunner Silvestre who had a feeling that this vein of form was on the way.

“He’s been for quite some time now. Right now he’s one of the top performers for sure.”

“We saw it coming. I saw it coming. It’s good for Arsenal because he’s very influential on the development of the play, going forward and he’s scoring goals.”

“He’s got a lot of influence and he’s a key asset for them.”

Arsenal missed out on their priority target Mykhaylo Mudryk as Chelsea hijacked that bid. Do you think that is a big blow for Edu and Mikel Arteta?

The biggest story in the football world saw Chelsea gazump London rivals Arsenal to the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk – with the Ukrainian forward starting penning an eight and a half year contract with the Blues.

According to reports Chelsea have agreed to pay Shakhtar Donetsk a fee of £62m fee with a potential of £26.2 in add-ons. Despite their disappointment in missing out on Murdyk, Silvestre isn’t convinced that it’s a huge loss for the Gunners.

“To be honest, I don’t think that’s a blow because when a player shows motivation to sign for your club and he ends up going to the neighbour, it shows you that maybe he wasn’t the right fit for you because you want players who are fully committed.”

“They (Edu and Mikel Arteta) must be looking at this story and saying we didn’t sign him but in the end it might be beneficial for us because we want players who 100 percent want to join us.”