Why Kieran Gibbs should aspire to be like Patrice Evra

This season has been a hugely positive one for Kieran Gibbs. He finally seems to be over the worst of his injury problems: of Arsenal’s outfield players, only Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud have started more games than him.

However, there remains room for improvement. While Gibbs has shown himself to be increasingly solid on the defensive side of the game, he wants to get better going forward.

The 24-year-old began his career as a winger. His first ever match at left-back actually came in the Arsenal first-team. However, since converting to full-back he has lost a little of his natural attacking verve. Now, he wants it back.

Speaking to Arsenal’s official matchday programme, Gibbs said:

“I think this year I’ve moved up a level. I’ve stayed fit and finally shown what I can do. There’s still a lot more I want to do though, especially offensively. Even on Saturday [against Southampton], I felt like I could have created more trouble for the opposition in the final third. I want to add more assists and even goals too. We play a certain way which enables me to get involved in the attack. But overall I’m happy and I just want to keep progressing and improving.”

Gibbs’s assessment of his own failings is backed up by Squawka’s Performance Score.

Note that, for the most part, his Attacking Score falls well below his defensive numbers.

Thus far, Gibbs has no Premier League goals or assists to his name in 2013/14. By contrast, Everton’s Leighton Baines has two league goals already under his belt, whilst Patrice Evra headed his first of the season last week against Cardiff.

Evra is a good role model for Gibbs to emulate, as the Frenchman scored four league goals in 2012/13: an excellent tally for a full-back.

Man United’s Frenchman benefits from offering a very real threat in the air – an area where the Arsenal youth graduate could certainly improve.

However, his shooting is also significantly more accurate than that of Gibbs. Arsenal’s left-back has managed four shots this season, three of which have been hugely wayward.

Gibbs Shot Accuracy

By contrast, Evra has a shot accuracy of 60% – more than double of the 24-year-old Englishman.

If Gibbs wants to introduce goals to his game, he needs to develop the composure and technique to test the goalkeeper more often when presented with the opportunity to shoot.