Gabriel’s Off-Pitch Secrets and Path to Arsenal Greatness

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Gabriel’s Off-Pitch Secrets and Path to Arsenal Greatness

  • Gabriel made his European football debut in 2017.
  • He is currently Arsenal’s main defender. and was included in the Brazilian national team.
Gabriel's Off-Pitch Secrets and Path to Arsenal Greatness

Gabriel Magayes, defender for the Brazilian national team One of the players has been established as one of the strongest defenders in the Premier League over the past two years. With 4 years of experience in England’s top league, from the first day when he could barely communicate in English until he was worried about whether he would adapt or not with Arsenal , to a national defender currently playing in continental tournaments like Copa America 2024 at this time

It all comes from “training”, “determination” and working in the right way. Which comes from having a great team. And this is the story of Gabriel and his off-field work with Andre Cunha, the CEO of Volt Sport Science, who opened up to The Athletic, a famous English media outlet, about working together that has become another success that continues to move forward for the highest goal, which is to become the best and most successful defender in the football industry.

This article is mainly translated by the author, and some parts are written from journalistic memories of various periods of this young footballer from Sao Paulo.

Gabriel began his professional football career with Brazilian club Avai before. At the age of 20, making his first move to Europe with Ligue 1 side Lille, who recognised his talent and took him on loan, giving the youngster, who had been learning French for three years there, the chance.

“I saw him, I saw the potential in him, he was a kid with a lot of talent and he wanted to play. He worked so hard that other young players had to follow suit. It’s an effort that we can compare to others and see why they didn’t get the same chances as Gabriel,” said Christophe Galtier, the former Lille manager.

His move to Arsenal in 2020 for €26m saw him gain even more attention. Mikel Arteta selected him as one of the new generation of players who would form the backbone of the ยูฟ่าเบท team. The player has repaid his confidence with hard work. From his first year showing his “nervousness” through his eyes every time he made a mistake.

To playing games that were often filled with uncertainty, disappointments, and learning from the pain, all of these things are now in the past, and they will never come back again, as Gabriel has developed into a great player, forming a strong partnership with William Saliba, forming one of the best defensive partnerships in the Premier League.

“He is a fully professional footballer, very focused and determined. The body care is excellent. His injuries were greatly reduced. When injuries are reduced. The more you can push yourself. Can play more continuously Jump higher Score more goals too,” Kunya said.

Andre Cunha is a Brazilian physiotherapist who works with the 4Perform company, which works on the development of the potential of various athletes under the work of 4 parts: nutrition, physical condition, mental condition and training. Until 2018, he got a big opportunity when he was contacted by Gabriel Jesus, who was playing for Manchester City at the time. Asking him to be his personal trainer. However, Cunha rejected the offer and changed the offer to be Jesus’ personal potential manager, which is still the case today. Until moving to join Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus still works with him.

But what changed is that Cunha opened his own company, Volt Sport Science, and has many clients under his care, including Gabriel Magalles. Whose father heard about Cunha’s abilities and his company. So they talked and worked together.

“His father (Gabriel Magalles) called me, we spoke. Gabriel has a very good family, he supports him completely and sees what is necessary to be a great athlete. I had two meetings with him at home and agreed to work together. His goals are general but very clear. He wants to win trophies with Arsenal and be in the senior Brazil team.”

The work of Volt Sport Scientist (hereafter referred to as Volt) will work in three parts for an athlete: the normal person. The athlete and the professional footballer. He states that the normal person and the athlete are the core of his development. Renato Costa. A member of Volt’s team, has been assigned to take care of Gabriel specifically.

As we know, in addition to basic physical and mental condition, each sport and each position requires different strengths. Based on the idea that players should have better bodies and be less prone to injuries.

“We start with basic information on his physical condition, mentality, nutrition and food intake. And then we go to the athlete’s data. All of this has to be put together to find his weakest point. And we start working together on the points we need to work together to make sure that he can play football well and there will be fewer injuries. Every team member will have data on the people they are looking after. We will talk about the problems we find and how to fix them. Some issues involve inviting experts to discuss further.”

“Gabriel is a central defender. The first thing that is very important is to develop his strength. He has to face opponents a lot and he has to win against fast strikers at the same time. He has to be physically strong, to be able to control his body as he wants. When to slow down his running, how to put weight on his feet, to change the direction of his movement. All of this is body control that has to be developed because it almost happens at the same time.

For a big guy like him, every jump has to be strong, his base has to be very solid. The taller he is, the harder it is to be stable. Playing against Arsenal, who have a lot of possession and play a lot of counter-attacks, speed is also very important. These are the things that we put in to develop him.”

“The older I get, the more I understand the principles. Gabriel became a father last year. He is a different person than he was several years ago. He knows when to work. time to relax And he understood why it had to be done that way. Why did he have to choose like this? That’s what happened to him. All the results speak of hard work.”

Gabriel’s participation numbers with Arsenal are increasing every year, with him playing in 50 games in all competitions last year. It’s also his first year with Arsenal on the Champions League stage, with the team well on their way to winning the Premier League, and Gabriel admits it’s great to work hard off the field to raise the level. self Along with training with Arsenal

“Everything I do is linked to working at Arsenal. I do personal training and work off the field for my performance on the field. and the finer details of the body I’m less injured. And if injured, you will recover faster. When that happened, I practiced well. Prepare better each game.”

Khunya admits that working as a personal trainer for athletes with the staff of each club Things have some problems. And what must be done is clear communication, especially information. Because this profession is not new to the football industry. But what is missing is Not enough communication and has a negative effect on the players Including the teams on both sides And he believes that the football industry and their careers will still have a lot of room for career growth.

“We have a WhatsApp group between the staff and the Arsenal staff, which has a number of staff, the head of physio, the development team and the team doctor in it. There is information exchange, there are numbers of players that can be exchanged, and the club must be informed before it reaches the players.”

“Nowadays, the training ground is no different from the stadium. Players have to try to fight for a position in the team, competing every day. Players also want to find something that will help them develop themselves more. Some activities are not available in the training ground or at the club, such as yoga or Pilates, which are not normal in football. But it can help players. Many players choose to look to us to help in this area.”