Why Gabriel Paulista Is the Arsenal Player Who Must Step Up in 2016

Arsenal are a team in evolution. At the start of the 2015/16 campaign, it seemed Arsene Wenger had a very settled side. However, a difficult winter period has forced the Gunners boss to go back to the drawing board.

He’s actively looking for a new balance in the team, and one of the beneficiaries has been Brazilian centre-half Gabriel Paulista. If Arsenal are to be a force to be reckoned with in the second half of the year, he needs to up his game—quickly.

Gabriel has had to be patient since arriving from Villarreal a little over a year ago. He came at a time when Wenger had a very established central defensive partnership in Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. His principal role was to provide cover and competition for the first-choice pairing.

However, that dynamic has begun to shift. Gabriel has now started each of Arsenal’s last seven games. The signs are there that Wenger is preparing to relegate Mertesacker from being a guaranteed starter.

The main issue appears to be the German’s lack of pace. Already in 2016 he has been caught upfield by quicker forwards, costing Arsenal dear. First he was sent off for tripping Diego Costa in the 1-0 defeat against Chelsea, before some poor positioning led to Barcelona taking the lead in the first leg of Arsenal’s knockout Champions League tie.

Wenger’s patience appears to have worn out. It looks as if he is determined to give Gabriel the opportunity to prove himself as Koscielny’s regular partner.

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In some respects, that appears to be a sensible decision. Gabriel is certainly quicker than Mertesacker—in fact, he has the acceleration to keep up with even the fastest strikers. In that respect at least, he and Koscielny are quite similar.

There is more to Gabriel’s game than mere speed. He’s able on the ball—stats service Squawka show he has an impressive passing accuracy of 89 percent. He’s also very effective in the air, winning 70 percent of his 54 headed duels in this season’s Premier League.

However, there are still flaws that Gabriel needs to iron out of his game. He can be positionally suspect, such as in the Champions League tie away to Bayern Munich back in November. On that night, Gabriel started as the Gunners succumbed to a humiliating 5-1 defeat. He was particularly culpable for their opening goal, getting the offside trap all wrong and allowing Robert Lewandowski a free header just yards form goal.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

He also needs to learn to control his temper. Earlier this season, Gabriel was sent off for needlessly kicking out at Chelsea’s Diego Costa. He was lucky to escape the same fate after a horrendous tackle on Troy Deeney in Arsenal’s FA Cup quarter-final against Watford. That volatility must be controlled if Gabriel is to become the defender Arsenal hope he will be.

A solid central defensive partnership is absolutely key to any team’s chances of success. It seems that Wenger believes Gabriel and Koscielny represent the future of Arsenal’s defence. If they are to prove good enough to propel the Gunners to major honours, the Brazilian will have to make some big strides forward in the calendar year of 2016.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.