FOR SOME, Arsenal’s decision to sign Italian international defender Riccardo Calafiori for £42 million came as a surprise.
After all, this is a player who only returned to Italy in the past summer having been forced to move to Switzerland to join Basel in order to begin his career.
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There are also those who point to Calafiori’s performance in the last few euros as the main motivating reason for Arsenal to finalize the deal.
Both groups, however, ignore the fact that Calafiori has long been highly rated in Italian football and, were it not for an injury that nearly ended his career as a young player, he would have been touted as a future captain of his childhood club, Roma.
Indeed, last season Calafiori emerged as one of the game’s best young defensive prospects, having seized an early opportunity to establish himself in a Bologna team that went on to qualify for the Champions League.
It is these performances, as well as those throughout the summer with Italy, who convinced Arsenal and their notoriously detail-oriented coach Mikel Arteta that Calafiori was the defensive complement his team needed.
Calafiori is one of the most versatile defenders today, both in position and in the different roles he can play.
And as Arteta can now count on players like Ben White and Jurrien Timber, who missed his entire first season at the club due to injury, in defense and now with the arrival of Calafiori they have another strong option in defense. .
In fact, there is an extremely strong possibility that Arsenal will look to use Calafiori at left-back first.
Let’s consider the main strengths of Calafiori’s game to better understand Arsenal’s reasons for completing the deal.
Carrying the ball
At the end of last season in series A Calafiori gave an interview in which he was asked which defenders he modeled his game after.
There’s every chance the interviewer thought Calafiori would respond with one of football’s great Italian defenders.
Maybe Giorgio Chiellini or Paolo Maldini. Instead, Calafiori name-checked England international John Stones.
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Calafiori went into further detail mentioning that he appreciated the way Stones entered the midfield and acknowledged that this was a result of the coach’s instruction.
Those of you who followed the Italian team on Euros You must have seen Calafiori make that kind of run when he advanced with the ball late in the game against Croatia and ended up scoring a late equalizer.
What is key for Calafiori, and indeed for Arteta, is that the Italian defender is comfortable moving into midfield both at center back and at left-back.
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Early in his career, Calafiori played as a left-back or as a left central defender in a back three.
It was Thiago Motta, his coach last season at Bologna, who convinced Calafiori that he had the ability to play in a back four system.
At Arsenal next This season we expect to see the Italian used, at least in the first instance, as a left-back, although I expect him to play in an inverted position, moving more into central areas of midfield when Arsenal are in possession.
In these situations, the Italian defender feels comfortable receiving, playing and breaking lines through his passing ability.
For Arteta, however, it is probably more important that, when moving into midfield, Calafiori is extremely strong in the moment of defensive transitions, when the opponent tries to counterattack quickly.
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As a defensive line runner, Calafiori will bring a lot to this Arsenal team.
Passing ability
In addition to feeling comfortable with possession of the ball when driving and breaking lines through runs and dribbling, Calafiori is also a modern defender who can progressively pass and move the ball through the lines.
While on the right side, Arteta typically uses Ben White In this position there is no doubt that Calafiori is a more aggressive passer than the Englishman.
There were times last season when Arsenal almost became too functional, with no real creativity, when playing from the first third to the central third.
Calafiori will bring a more consistent sense of ball progression from the first line than Arteta had last season with his options at the back.
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Crucially, when advancing in possession, Calafiori is not a player who will simply play for the next line with a secure passing profile that sees the ball move towards the next available player.
He has more range to his game than that, with the ability to make longer plays or targeted passes that break the back line to free up players behind.
It goes without saying, of course, that this type of passing profile will lead to a less impressive pass completion percentage, as more passes have a higher level of risk associated with them.
This is part of the risk/reward that coaches must consider when having a more aggressive and progressive passer as part of their defensive unit.
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Having a player with Calafiori’s passing profile in the defensive unit will give Arteta and his coaching staff more options in how they build the attack.
1v1 Defense
Even though Calafiori is a very modern player in terms of defender profile, he is still first and foremost a defender and, on top of that, an Italian defender.
He has the physical profile, listed at 6’2”, to defend against Premier League attackers, but it’s his positioning and reading of the game when defending that really stands out.
He is equally comfortable when asked to defend in space as the more reactive defender or when asked to defend firmly against opposing attacking players as the more proactive defender.
That’s why, although he’s likely to start at left-back, he already has the ability and skills to play as Arteta’s central defender.
In fact, his skill set would be a very good match partnering William Saliba in the RCB role.
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As a defender, Calafiori is quick and aggressive when entering into direct defensive duels with opposing attackers.
His initial positioning is usually very good and this allows him to gain an advantage when attacking areas where passes or crosses are made.
In this aspect, the Italian matches the way Saliba and Gabriel currently defend at Arsenal, with Arteta favoring defensive players who have the ability to defend equally well and in space.
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There is no doubt that from a defensive point of view the signing of Calafiori will be an upgrade on the options Arteta had at left-back last season.
He could also represent one of the strongest defensive options for the central defense team.
Conclusion
While some may think that Arsenal signed Calafiori solely based on his performances at the Euros, the truth is that he has been a defender of interest to the wider game for much longer.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
