Valencia centre half Gabriel says that he feels he didn’t get a fair chance to show what he could do at Arsenal. The Brazilian joined the North London club in January 2015, but was largely a bit part player before leaving for Valencia this summer.
Gabriel says he did not feel valued at Arsenal due to infrequent playing time, "I deserved more of an opportunity," he told Sky Sports. “Sometimes I played because my team-mates were injured.
"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.
“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." When [Hector] Bellerin got injured, I played at right-back and Arsenal started to lose.
"I think I played in four or five games en route to the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City and I played brilliantly in that game. I played really well and I received plenty of praise.
"Then I think we faced Tottenham away and lost, I gave away a penalty in that game and lost my place in the team. I didn"t play again."
