Ex-Arsenal defender Gabriel claims he was scapegoat for former club's struggles

Gunner goner | Gabriel left Arsenal this summer for Valencia REUTERS

Ex-Arsenal defender Gabriel claims he was the scapegoat for many of his former side’s troubles.
The Brazil international, now a regular in a Valencia side that are second in La Liga, struggled to carve out a regular place in Arsene Wenger’s side.
Though at his best his commitment and physicality offered a valuable edge to Arsenal’s defence, Gabriel was often guilty of careless errors and endured communication troubles with his team-mates only exacerbated by his struggles to learn English.

Arsenal opted to accept a £10million offer from Valencia in August, two-and-a-half years after recruiting him from La Liga outfit Villarreal, but Gabriel claimed he was never given a fair crack of the whip in the Premier League.
“Sometimes I played because my team-mates were injured,” he told Sky Sports. “I did play and sometimes even after playing well, I'd go home sad, given that I was only playing because my team-mate was injured. I don't think I deserved that.

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“I think I had the ability to play and to start games because I deserved to do so, or because I did well in training, but that didn't happen.

“Sometimes I'd play three or four games and if Arsenal lost, I'd be dropped and everyone on the outside would say, ‘It's Gabriel's fault.
“That wasn't good for me. People thought, 'When that guy plays, Arsenal always lose.'”

For instance Gabriel pointed to what would be his penultimate game as an Arsenal player, a 2-0 defeat at local rivals Tottenham where he conceded a penalty moments after Dele Alli’s opener, as an occasion where he had borne the brunt of opprobrium from both supporters and Wenger.
At Valencia Gabriel has offered a timely reminder of the qualities that convinced Arsenal to part with nearly £12m for his services in January 2015, an upswing in form the 27-year-old puts down to personal reasons.
“I feel very happy here, not just because I've been playing, but because of everything,” he said.
“Because I've been playing, my family is happy, the friends I have here.”