Piero Hincapie earned his sixth consecutive Premier League start on matchday 17, but his performance split opinion.
Against Everton, Hincapie started alongside William Saliba at centre-back, filling in for Gabriel Magalhaes.
Arsenal have been missing Gabriel, as was to be expected from the Gunners’ best centre-back being sidelined by injury.
Though his replacement has impressed, there have also been some concerns about Hincapie, worries that arose during the win at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Is Arsenal’s defensive strength enough to win the Premier League this season? If not, why?
Arsenal fans spotted a worrying trend about Piero Hincapie against Everton
Gabriel isn’t too far from returning to action, which is a huge boost, but what does it mean for Hincapie?
A spot among the substitutes is what the Brazilian’s return will almost certainly signal, and it might just bring Arsenal fans some composure.
During the win against Everton, fans gathered on X to discuss Hincapie, where the Ecuadorian’s flaws were aired.
“Thought Hincapie was supposed to be elite on the ball, but he moves like Tierney,” one Arsenal supporter said, worried about Hincapie’s reluctance to hold the ball.
Another shared a similar view, calling the 23-year-old ‘spooky’ for how poor he is when in possession.
“Genuinely kind of spooky how bad Hincapie is on the ball? He gets it & just wants to get rid of it asap,” they wrote.
The general consensus from Arsenal fans on social media was that the summer signing is not bringing the assurance the Gunners need at the back.
“Need Gabriel back. I have seen enough with Hincapie. He needs a bit of time to get to that level of assurance at the back,” a fan said.
Another wrote, “Honestly, I don’t trust this guy as a center back he looks shaky and loses a lot of duels. Just hope big Gabi comes back quickly cuz our back line never looks the same since his injury.”
The concern about duel-winning was raised by another supporter on X, “He is good but his duels lost just concerning me.”
Hincapie dominated against Everton, but one weakness was clear
Arsenal fans made their thoughts on Hincapie’s performance clear, but what did the numbers reveal?
Fill the blanks: Arsenal have a £45m option to buy Hincapie, right now, I think he’s worth £__m.
Quite a similar evaluation to Arsenal fans is the answer, as the Ecuadorian’s duel-winning was flawed, winning 55% of those he was involved in.
That being said, there were positives that deserve airtime, as the centre-back won 100% of his tackles and contributed with 14 defensive actions.
It wasn’t a top-of-the-range display from Hincapie, but it wasn’t the worst.
The issue is that when it comes to Arsenal’s back four, the standards are so high that anything falling below near-perfection will stand out.
Concerns or not, it was a much-needed clean sheet for the Gunners, who will sit top of the table on Christmas Day.
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