Gabriel Paulista: Marcelino's Warrior

Marcelino García Toral, the manager of Valencia CF, has an intriguing habit. He trusts what he knows. Sometimes, it has helped him a great deal. At other times, it has been his undoing, to the point of infuriating the Valencia fanbase. With Gabriel Armando de Abreu, popularly known as Gabriel Paulista, Marcelino has hit both extremes.

Gabriel first worked with Marcelino at Villarreal, where he arrived in the summer of 2013 from his "boyhood" club Vitória (Gabriel joined Vitória's youth setup at 19 after failed trials with Santos and Grêmio). They spent a season and a half together before Gabriel was sold to Arsenal. Gabriel's time at Arsenal was mixed; he impressed on a few occasions, but he was far too rash, inconsistent, and perhaps he never got the chance he deserved. So after a season and a half, he parted ways with the club, returning to Spain; this time, to the other side of the Derbi de la Comunitat.

Surprisingly, Marcelino was sacked in August 2016 for irreconcilable differences with the club's board of directors, but he made his return to La Liga just a year later, taking charge of Valencia after a disastrous season which saw Els Taronges finish 12th and pass through three different managers. One of Marcelino’s first actions at the club was bringing Gabriel back, and at the price of €11 million, it was a low-risk bargain. After all, Gabriel had a successful spell in Villarreal, but his inconsistent spell at Arsenal, where he struggled to communicate on the field with his teammates, heaped skepticism on the deal. Still, he spoke the language in Spain and he understood the style of play, and along with new arrival Jeison Murillo, as well as Ezequiel Garay and Ruben Vezo, Valencia's defense looked solid for the first time in a while.

Gabriel made his Valencia debut in the 0-0 draw at Mestalla against Atlético Madrid. He had a solid performance, partnering Garay at the back for 74 minutes before the latter got injured and was replaced by Murillo. In his next appearance, a 5-0 win over Málaga at home, he impressed again, this time partnering Murillo, another South American center back who had returned to Spain after a topsy-turvy spell at a demanding club.