Although Moscarra is still just a "natural", as a young defender who has proved himself in La Liga, what can his joining bring to Arsenal? The Athletic authors Art de Roché and Thom Harris talked about the Gunner's new aid. Arsenal is...
Although Moscarra is still just a "natural", as a young defender who has proved himself in La Liga, what can his joining bring to Arsenal? The Athletic authors Art de Roché and Thom Harris talked about the Gunner's new aid.
Arsenal is really very active in the transfer market this summer, and the purpose of their series of signings is very clear - to enhance the depth of the team's lineup.
Signing Nolgo from Brentford can maintain the midfield thickness after Jorginho leaves the team, while signing Kepa from Chelsea will be an upgraded version of Neto (returning to Bournemouth after loan term). Maduaike also provides some degree of reinforcement on the wing.
As for Spanish U21 international Moscarat, it can be regarded as Saliba's reliable spare tire. Ben White and Fu'an Jianyang, who left the team as a free agent, could have played a similar role last season, but they both missed for a long time due to knee injury. This forced Gunners coach Arteta to have two left-footed central defenders appear in some games in the second half of the 2024/2025 season. In the penultimate game of Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Newcastle, Saliba was forced to leave the court due to a hamstring injury, and Calafiori was ordered to be in danger. Then, left-footed central defender Kiviol, who replaced Gabriel, had to move to the right. In the final game where the Gunners defeated Southampton 2-1, Kiviol appeared again in the right center back.
To be honest, Kiviol, who was ordered to perform well in the right center back position, but such helpless actions once again prove that Arteta really lacks a suitable Saliba spare tire. In recent summer windows, the Gunners coach has been trying to improve the team's defense, but injuries throughout the defense have dragged them down, and it also explains why Arteta is looking for more substitutes.
21-year-old Moscra has a clear advantage, and he can perform well in the left central defender and right central defender. As a right-footed player, Mosquera was mainly the right center back when he made his mark in Valencia, replacing Paulista who transferred to Atletico Madrid. With the appearance of Cesar Tarega, Mosquera was moved to the left center back last season.
The following picture shows how Valencia has used Moscarat in the past two seasons.
Moskara's position distribution in the past two seasons
When news that Arsenal was interested in Moskara came out, TA described Moskara as a "passive" defender. But this does not mean that he lets his opponent attack and puts himself in a passive state. On the contrary, he has a clear judgment on when he should intercept.
As shown in the figure below, although he ranked very low in La Liga's "Real Steal (combining data of successful steals, failed steals and fouls when trying to steal)" and "Real Interception (interception and blocking passes)", his super high real steal success rate shows how efficient he is once he takes action. He also ranks highly in regaining the ball, showing that he is good at handling clearances.
Although Moskara is a "passive" defender, his defense is very powerful
When Moskara defends on the right side of the court, it will naturally shine even more.
Although 4-4-2 is Valencia's preferred formation, they sometimes form a five-guard formation. This was the case in April's 2-1 away game against Real Madrid, which was only three days earlier than Arsenal's equally defeated Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
In that game against Real Madrid, Mosquera took the right position as the third central defender, and his mission was to limit the attacks of Vinicius and Mbappe. He seemed to enjoy the challenge. In the first half, Moscla tended to defend in the wing area, pushing him to the outside, maintaining pace, and then decisively stepping down to win the ball.
At the beginning of the second half, Valencia's formation was solid. Vinicius tried to catch the ball between the defense, but Moscla was alert to the danger and quickly stepped forward to interfere with his first touch.
Entered the last 10 minutes, Mbappe got the ball on the left and prepared to break through. Mosquera signaled Tarega to hold the position, while he himself quickly chased back to make up for defense.
The young defender returned to defense in time, delaying Mbappe's speed and then forcing him to lose the ball easily.
This move may be overlooked because it was not a steal, but it helped Valencia maintain the draw and allowed them to score the winning goal in the 90th minute.
As Arsenal became more dominant in the opponent's half, their defenders took on a higher starting position every season. This makes it crucial to defend the blockbuster space like the one Moskara showed against Mbappe. This also requires players to feel comfortable near the center line and even cross the center line to actively defend, which Moscra has shown in Valencia.
Below is an example of a match against Villarreal, when he defended on the left and successfully launched an attack.
When used as a left-hand center back, Moskara's defense style sometimes differs from when he is on the right. On the side of his foot that he is not good at, instead of waiting for the best time to poke the ball, he sometimes prefers to take the risk.
His long legs can sometimes help him get out of trouble, as shown in the following example against Kazakhstan U21.
But something to note is that Moscla is still a very young centre-back, and sometimes the most eye-catching moves are not always the best.
He tried the same type of defensive move against Osasuna in La Liga and was awarded an undisputed penalty.
Another aspect that Moscarra needs to improve is his air control ability. Although he is 1.88 meters tall, he ranked 57th among the 62nd central defender in the success rate of the La Liga centre-back in the air confrontation rate last season.
By comparison, Saliba and Gabriel ranked 22nd and 34th among the 64th centre-backs in the Premier League.
It is also important to remember that a defender wins an air confrontation does not always mean keeping the ball. Sometimes, touching the ball from any part is OK, but if Arsenal defends in the middle line, it is more important to ensure that the situation is controlled than taking all the risks to just touch the ball slightly.
For example, one of Saliba or one of Gabriel can often be seen fighting the striker in the air with the goal of interfering with the opponent and allowing the ball to fall to the feet of his partner.
Moscla's lower ranking in air confrontation is also partly due to the defensive approach he tends to take in such scenarios. Instead of taking the initiative to jump to fight against the opponent's forward, he tried to use his long legs to go around the side and touch the ball, as shown below.
Sometimes this trick works, but other times, he may find himself in a disadvantaged position.
In terms of ball possession, Moskara has made more forward passes in the 24/25 season (10.3% of his passes were forward passes compared to 7.6% the previous season). His passing accuracy has also increased from 89% to 91.8%. This willingness to pass forward is particularly evident in the three-back system, but he still has room for improvement. Although he can find the pass route to the midfield, there are times when his pass will take some effort to control the ball.
He also had moments when he didn't control the ball tightly near the center line and easily gave the ball to his opponent, one of which led to a goal by Real Valladolid.
In addition to style fit, his experience of playing 90 times in Valencia's first team will also give Arsenal more confidence. Like any young player, he still has room for improvement, but he has accumulated considerable experience.
Calafiore and Kiviol are examples of young defenders who have proved themselves to be valuable lineup choices. Of course, both of them are left-footed players. Now it's time to add a right-footed substitute. Moscra is not a finished product yet, but why Arsenal sees him as the preferred position is obvious.
(Armour)
