'We don’t really care': Gabriel hits back at Fabian Hurzeler over Arsenal criticism | OneFootball

Gabriel acknowledges performances can improve, but insists three points are the most important

Gabriel has revealed the Arsenal players do not care about Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler’s critisicm.

The Gunners beat Brighton 1-0 on Wednesday night to move seven points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

However, much of the reaction to the game has centred around Hurzeler’s comments about perceived time wasting from Arsenal with regards to set-pieces.

Hurzeler had drawn attention to the aforementioned tactics in his pre-match press conference, and he was in the ear of the fourth official throughout the match at the Amex Stadium.

Then in the post-match press conference, the Brighton boss - who had clashed with Piero Hincapie in the first half - took aim at Arsenal's tactics once again.

He said: "I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way. I love the effort from my boys, I loved how they played football.

“I think there was only one team who tried to play football today and therefore I'm proud of how they did it."

Fabian Hurzeler was shushed by Piero Hincapie

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Gabriel, Arsenal’s best player against Brighton, has responded to Hurzeler’s claims when speaking to ESPN Brasil and said: “We don’t really care about what he says.

“That is for the referee to decide on the pitch. If he wants to give a yellow card or not, he decides the time we take.

“We just have to do things the way we are doing and keep going.”

Arsenal have come in for stinging criticism for their style of play this season, particularly an over-reliance on goals from set-pieces.

Against Brighton it took until the 88th minute to register a second shot on target, that after their xG was just 0.01 at half-time despite leading thanks to Bukayo Saka’s deflected strike.

We just have to do things the way we are doing and keep going

Arsenal defender, Gabriel

However, Gabriel insists results are is all that matters at this stage of the season and has stressed the importance of not being distracted by Man City in the title race.

He added: “I think not every game we will be perfect. The way we defend is very important. The most important thing is the three points.

“Tomorrow we will see what we can do better. But today the three points were very important.

“We have to concentrate on ourselves and keep going the way we are.

“Now it’s three wins in a row, and of course we have to keep winning. That’s the most important thing.”