Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes has gone to impressive lengths away from the training ground to raise his game.
Gabriel Magalhaes has made great progress at Arsenal in recent seasons.
The Brazilian has now established himself as a key player at the Emirates Stadium and has built a magnificent partnership with fellow centre-back William Saliba.
However, the 26-year-old does still have his critics. Gabriel has been called out for still having a “reckless” streak, but in the player’s defence, he has taken huge strides forward in this regard.
Last season, as he made 50 appearances for the Gunners, across all competitions, he scarcely put a foot wrong. Saliba even believes Gabriel to be the best centre-back in the Premier League, and there is certainly a case to be made that the Frenchman is correct.
Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff deserve a great deal of credit for having developed the former Lille man into the player he is now. However, it has now also become clear that Gabriel has done a great deal of work in his own time, away from the club, to improve his game.
Gabriel Magalhaes builds performance team outside of Arsenal
In order to aid his development, Gabriel has assembled a performance team to work with him outside of his training sessions at Arsenal.
As reported by The Athletic, Gabriel is working with Volt Sport Science (who also support Gabriel Jesus), and personal performance manager Renato Costa, to improve his mentality, physicality, and ability to recover efficiently between matches.
According to Volt executive Andre Cunha, Gabriel has: “Grown so much as a player. The first thing is his mindset. He changed it so much, it’s crazy. The first day I was with him, I said, ‘You need to change your attitude, to change the game’. It all starts there.
“He’s so professional right now. He’s so focused, so driven. And so the pain has started to decrease. When you have less pain, you can express more force. You can play more. You can jump higher. You can score more goals!”
Arsenal kept in the loop as Gabriel makes progress
Gabriel himself then explained: “Everything is extremely connected with Arsenal. What we do outside of the training ground is all about supporting what happens there, and details.
“I feel less pain and I recover faster. This allows me to train and prepare myself better for matches.”
Volt are working closely with Arsenal, sharing a WhatsApp group with the club’s medical staff, which they use to keep them up to date with his progress as well as any test results or performance changes.
Costa works with Gabriel to effectively manage every aspect of his life, including his sleep, diet, and personal psychology. These efforts are clearly paying off, as he is consistently shining on the pitch.