Brazilian defender Gabriel Paulista has been at the Emirates for less than a year. In that time, he has not yet managed to learn the language, but is still blown away by the massive support that the club enjoys. Speaking in an interview to ESPN Brazil, the 24-year old thanked the fans for their support towards him following the incident against Diego Costa, and also expressed his desire to stay on at the North London club (via Twitter).
Gabriel “as I walked off after being sent off against Chelsea I thought the fans would hate me, but the support was unbelievable”
— ali (@aliladiere) October 5, 2015
Gabriel “I want to stay here for a very long time, I don’t speak the language yet but I feel at home and this club is perfect for me”
— ali (@aliladiere) October 5, 2015
Gabriel “the Arsenal fans make you realise how big this club is, I will post one picture and my phone will go crazy for 3 days”
— ali (@aliladiere) October 5, 2015
Gabriel went on to praise teammates Petr Cech, Per Merteacker and Laurent Koscielny; who have been helping him out in training. The defender expressed his opinion that Cech was a natural leader and also thanked his lucky stars that he had been given the chance to learn from the vastly experienced duo of Mertsacker and Koscielny. Both those defenders have crossed their 30th birthday, and as their long term replacement it is good that Gabriel is taking every opportunity to learn from them.
Gabriel to ESPN Brazil “Cech is a great keeper he talks to me a lot, I have learnt a few phrases that I know he will say, he is a leader”
— ali (@aliladiere) October 5, 2015
Gabriel “I want to learn more from Laurent he is really good at coming from behind and taking the ball, I’d like to bring that to my game”
— ali (@aliladiere) October 5, 2015
Gabriel “Having two players to learn from like Per and Laurent is a gift from God. I am shadowing them and picking up lots of things”
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— ali (@aliladiere) October 5, 2015
In his appearances so far this season, Gabriel has shown tremendous amounts of passion, and he is unafraid to get physical with the opposition if he has to. Although his temperament perhaps needs some more work, he seems to be a solid defender otherwise and his pairing with Koscielny is sure to yield dividends for the club over the course of the season.
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