After the demolition of West Ham by Arsenal, Mikel Arteta was asked whether Nicolas Jover, the club's coach, should still negotiate a goal bonus in his deal.
“That's a question for him,” said Arteta, barely holding back a broad grin. “I don't negotiate the contracts.”
It was Jover, who joined the club in 2021, and once again jumped for joy on the touchline after Arsenal took the lead from another impeccably executed corner.
This was Arsenal's 20th goal from a corner in the Premier League since the start of last season, the most of any team in the division. It was also a fifth place and another class higher for towering defender Gabriel, who nodded past Lukasz Fabianski after just ten minutes.
This time, however, it felt different. This was not a usual Arsenal routine. First, it was Gabriel himself who took the lead.
As Bukayo Saka shuffled towards the corner flag to take the corner, Gabriel beckoned him back and called together a group that also included Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard. He told Saka where to put it, dictated the piece, and made sure everyone else did the rest.
The Arsenal players gathered in a group behind the back post. As Saka prepared to swing the ball in, Gabriel and his teammates got to work. Riccardo Calafiori and others blocked the West Ham shirts from getting near Gabriel, who moved away from his marker, Michail Antonio, towards the near post.
Lucas Paqueta tried to head the incoming ball away before it could find its target, but as he jumped he was given a firm push in the back by Jurrien Timber – a push that West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui was adamant should have been a foul – and it was left to Gabriel to take a look at it.
It's almost no football anymore when it comes to Arsenal and corners. At least not 'football'. Arsenal's deadly routines, as seen again on Saturday night at West Ham, are straight out of the NFL playbook.
And it is Gabriel, for those who know the American football jargon, who is both the quarterback who calls the shots and the hard-hitting running back who finishes them.
“Gabriel executed that goal from start to finish,” Gary Neville noted.
He doesn't just stand there and throw. He also scores the touchdowns. He is the Lamar Jackson of the Premier League – a revolution in itself that moves the goalposts of what can be expected from someone playing in his position.
This Gabriel goal was also different for another reason, not just because he was the one who decided the match. It was different because it was a move that Arsenal have not used before.
Here was a new corner kick routine. It ended the same way as many others, with Gabriel nodding the ball into the back of the opponent's net, but there was something different about this match. Gabriel didn't do what he usually does.
When Gabriel scored the winner from a corner against north London rivals Tottenham in September, his teammates were left hanging in the six-yard box, but Gabriel stood alone and began his charge to victory from the penalty spot.
When Gabriel scored his header against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season, his teammates gathered behind the back post, just like at the London Stadium, ready to charge forward and cause chaos, but Gabriel restarted his run from the penalty spot. . He set off and beat Kyle Walker for pace, as many do these days, before nodding home to the far post.
And when he came in from a corner against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening, the red shirts once again got behind the far stick and once again Gabriel lingered in the penalty area before making his move.
Only this time, against West Ham, Gabriel started as part of the pack. He was in chaos from the start. This was tested briefly in preseason, but not again after that, until now.
Arsenal saw it again later, when Gabriel raced from outside the pack to Saka's corner just before half-time, only to be punched in the face by Fabianski to earn the Gunners the penalty to make it 5-2.
No matter how many times Arsenal mix up their routines, it's always Gabriel who comes out on top. Teams know he is the only target but still can't stop him. He has become inevitable.
Gabriel is the key to all of this. So much so that he not only scores the goals, but is now also in charge.
Comments