‘Vulnerable’… Pundit says Arsenal have a 26-year-old player who is way too easy to expose

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Arsenal have the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League this season, but there’s still something rather unconvincing about their backline at times.

Indeed, as was showcased at the weekend, Arsenal’s defence do still have a mistake or two in them at times, and speaking on his podcast, Eamon Dunphy has outlined one player who he thinks doesn’t really have what it takes to be a top-class defender.

Dunphy named Gabriel Magalhaes as a player who he doesn’t particularly rate, claiming that the Brazilian is a very vulnerable defender who could’ve really struggled if Darwin Nunez had played at the weekend.

Gabriel is vulnerable

Dunphy shared his verdict on Gabriel.

“They have a number of problems Arsenal, and one of them is at the heart of the defence where they have this Gabriel who is vulnerable in particular, Nunez, they were made for him, and he did cause problems when he came on,” Dunphy said.

Has his moments

As much as we like Gabriel as a player, it must be said that he does have his moments.

Towards the end of last season, he looked lost without William Saliba next to him at times, and while he’s largely been solid this term, he does still have that air of vulnerability about him.

You can watch a defender like Saliba and know that they’re wholly assured in their ability and what they’re doing, but, with Gabriel, it almost feels as though he’s a moment of madness away from his performances being completely derailed at any given moment in any given game.

Gabriel is a player that we rate highly, but, as Dunphy says, he is vulnerable to the odd defensive lapse, and that does make us feel a bit nervous when watching Arsenal.