{"id":44429,"date":"2021-11-03T17:14:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T16:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?p=44429"},"modified":"2021-11-03T17:14:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T16:14:50","slug":"how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/","title":{"rendered":"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not so long ago, Arsenal sat slumped at the foot of the Premier League table after three straight defeats to start the season. Serious questions were asked of Mikel Arteta and his so-called \u2018process\u2019 with evidence that the Gunners should continue with the Spaniard in charge thin on the surface. However, a lot has changed since then.<\/p>\n

Arsenal have now gone seven Premier League fixtures without suffering defeat. Not only this, their performances have many suggesting Arteta might even carry his team into the top four and next season\u2019s Champions League – the Gunners are just three points off West Ham United in fourth place.<\/p>\n

Central to this improvement has been the burgeoning relationship in defence between Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White. The pair complement in each in terms of the qualities they bring to the pitch with Gabriel a physical presence and White generally the one who brings the ball out from the back for the Gunners<\/p>\n

The strength of this partnership was apparent in Arsenal\u2019s 2-0 win over Leicester City<\/a> at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. While the Gunners controlled the first half, they had to withstand pressure from the hosts in the second period. Without Gabriel and White putting up a barrier in front of Aaron Ramsdale, who also pulled off a series of saves, Arsenal might have folded.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long time since the North London club had such balance at the back. It\u2019s not just Gabriel and White, either. Takehiro Tomiyasu has been a significant upgrade at right back since arriving from Bologna on transfer deadline day with the Japanese international adept on both sides of the ball. He\u2019s exactly the sort of option Arteta lacked on the right side of defence.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Kieran Tierney. The Scotland International has been one of Arsenal\u2019s most consistent performers over the last two seasons, but he now has support. What\u2019s more, Arteta has Nuno Taveres to call on as an able deputy. The methods of ideas of Pep Guardiola\u2019s former assistant are starting to take root in his squad as a whole, not just his starting XI.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they all have the qualities to complement each other and the connection between them is natural,\u201d Arteta explained recently<\/a>, highlighting the long-term potential of his defensive unit. \u201cIn the long run we will see what we get, but so far I am really pleased with them. The potential is there because of the qualities they have individually and how they complement each other with those qualities.\u00a0With the age of the group that we have, if we manage them well and they are willing to sustain that, they have a really bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Progress has been made all over the pitch in recent weeks with Thomas Partey and Albert Sambi Lokonga learning to play together and Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe giving Arsenal a creative platform further forward. Bukayo Saka gives the Gunners an outlet on the wing while Pierre-Emile Aubameyang has found his cutting edge in front of goal again.<\/p>\n

However, the starkest difference in this Arsenal team can be found in defence where Gabriel and White now anchor things. Even going back to the final days of the Arsene Wenger era, the Gunners have been accused of being a soft touch. That accusation can no longer he levelled at them.<\/p>\n

Arsenal have still conceded more goals (13) than they have scored (12) in the Premier League this season, but the building blocks are in place for Arteta to build the team few believed he could only a few weeks ago. Gabriel and White have the makings of one of the best centre back pairings in the division.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

You could earn up to \u00a310 (or currency equivalent) in bonus funds by joining Colossus with our New Player Bonus. Click here to join the action.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not so long ago, Arsenal sat slumped at the foot of the Premier League table after three straight defeats to start the season. Serious questions were asked of Mikel Arteta and his so-called \u2018process\u2019 with evidence that the Gunners should continue with the Spaniard in charge thin on the surface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272,76],"class_list":["post-44429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome","tag-premier-league"],"yoast_head":"\nHow their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence - Colossus Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From looking down and out, Arsenal are on the verge of the top four. How has their new defence turned them into a Premier League force again?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From looking down and out, Arsenal are on the verge of the top four. How has their new defence turned them into a Premier League force again?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-03T16:14:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/2G7GK0J-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\"},\"headline\":\"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-03T16:14:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":658,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"FeatureHome\",\"Premier League\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2021\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/\",\"name\":\"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence - Colossus Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-03T16:14:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"From looking down and out, Arsenal are on the verge of the top four. How has their new defence turned them into a Premier League force again?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"description\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Colossus Bets\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Colossus Bets\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SportsBigger\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ColossusBets\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/colossusbets_\\\/?hl=en\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/colossus-bets\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ColossusBets\\\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\",\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Graham Ruthven\"},\"description\":\"Graham Ruthven is a freelance football writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, ESPN, Eurosport, Grantland, The Scotsman, Bleacher Report, Four Four Two, Vice, Al Arabiya, Sports on Earth and Scottish TV among many other publications and outlets.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/grahamruthven.net\\\/about\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/grahamruthven\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/grahamruthven\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence - Colossus Blog","description":"From looking down and out, Arsenal are on the verge of the top four. How has their new defence turned them into a Premier League force again?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence","og_description":"From looking down and out, Arsenal are on the verge of the top four. How has their new defence turned them into a Premier League force again?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/","og_site_name":"Colossus Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","article_published_time":"2021-11-03T16:14:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/2G7GK0J-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Graham Ruthven","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven","twitter_site":"@ColossusBets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Graham Ruthven","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/"},"author":{"name":"Graham Ruthven","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2"},"headline":"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence","datePublished":"2021-11-03T16:14:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/"},"wordCount":658,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["FeatureHome","Premier League"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2021","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/","name":"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence - Colossus Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-03T16:14:50+00:00","description":"From looking down and out, Arsenal are on the verge of the top four. How has their new defence turned them into a Premier League force again?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/how-their-new-defensive-pairing-is-key-to-arsenal-resurgence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How their new defensive pairing is key to Arsenal resurgence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","name":"Colossus Blog","description":"Colossus Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Colossus Bets","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Colossus Bets"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ColossusBets","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colossusbets_\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/colossus-bets\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ColossusBets\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2","name":"Graham Ruthven","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Graham Ruthven"},"description":"Graham Ruthven is a freelance football writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, ESPN, Eurosport, Grantland, The Scotsman, Bleacher Report, Four Four Two, Vice, Al Arabiya, Sports on Earth and Scottish TV among many other publications and outlets.","sameAs":["https:\/\/grahamruthven.net\/about\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven"],"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/author\/grahamruthven\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44433,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44429\/revisions\/44433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}