View From The Sphere

Did he pass his baptism of fire with flying colours?

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Nacho MonrealYesterday, at The Emirates, saw Nacho Monreal make his Arsenal debut against a rugged Stoke City side.

The 26-year-old was signed on deadline day last Thursday from Malaga for an undisclosed fee after Arsene Wenger learnt Kieran Gibbs could be out for up to eight weeks.

Although Andre Santos was available for selection yesterday, Wenger opted to start with the Spaniard instead, and the Frenchman was pleased with what he saw, stating it was a ‘convincing’ start to Monreal’s Arsenal career.

But was it a convincing debut for the left-back as Wenger suggests?

Will Monreal give Gibbs, when he returns to full fitness, a run for his money and challenge the England international for his place in the side?

In my opinion, it’s too early to say. One game does not define a player after all.

However, if Monreal continues to produce displays like he did yesterday then he could very well be a permanent fixture in the Arsenal side, even when Gibbs returns.

Let us know what you thought of Monreal’s first game for The Gunners by leaving a comment below.

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10 comments

  • Lobster says:

    If Wenger is serious about only recruiting “top top TOP quality” players who will strengthen our squad then Nacho will definately be contesting Gibbs to the starting spot. Plus, if u look at the stats, he has more experience, has more caps for a better national team, Nacho looks to be ready made to take Gibbs spot.
    With that being said though, Gibbs has been arguably our best this season, he will definately give Nacho a run for his money.

  • Sam says:

    The interesting thing is that Monreal can also play left-midfield and Gibbs could too at a push. I could see Wenger (or a more tactical coach like Anceloti) playing Monreal AND Gibbs together in tricky away games in the future.

  • richard says:

    well i think gibbs may end up playing second fiddle to monreal because of fitness issues. Monreal played well yesterday and showed when to go and when to hang back a bit. he has real pace and his delivery from the left was pretty good

  • Dylan says:

    Did well considering he’s only been there a day and it was a game vs Stoke! Looking forward for competition between him and Gibbs or a partnership between the two if one plays as a midfielder.

  • RayB says:

    I thought Monreal had a very good game considering that he had only one day of training with his new teammates before playing in a challenging game in a new league. Happy that Arsene appears to have done good business, it’s easy just to add faces in the January window, but we’ve added what looks like a quality player in a position where he was needed. Time will tell just how good he will be.

  • Mr Ayo says:

    Nacho is a gud recruit,is surely goin to give gibbs a gud run for his money. Wenger should have manage and buy a good defensive midfielder bcos dat what we truly needed @ d moment…….

  • Chikelue says:

    Actually i was happy with Monreal display against a stoke side that takes football as Rugby. If he continues like dis, he will seriously challenge Gibbs for the LB position. Lets see hom @ sunderland next week.

  • Nyaga says:

    Nacho is a gud catch for arsenal n i think gibbs cud do well on the bench wen he comes back.nacho was impressive considering he was about 48 hrs old in the team.also stokeis one of the physical sides in the league hence he was gud with his runs plus u cud see the experience part of it wich gibbs lucks.

  • ivorstephens says:

    Monreal has been bought to start which is good decisive work from wenger.After being unlucky for a finish against Liverpool that was a good three points against an agricultural stoke team.Im personally worried about the left side of the defence agsinst bayern but i think we can score two or three at home against them

  • kokone says:

    Nacho even gave “souvenir” to Stoke player on the head. Kudos!!!!!

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