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British broadcaster and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has urged Gabriel Martinelli to heed Thierry Henry's advice on how to improve his game. Martinelli has been battling with Leandro Trossard for the left-wing spot in Mikel Arteta's starting XI since the Belgian's arrival in 2023.
This season, the Arsenal pair have struggled in terms of goals, with each player netting four times in 22 games across competitions. The Gunners have had problems in attack, with the majority of their output coming from Bukayo Saka. The English winger has nine goals and 12 assists across competitions.
Meanwhile, Kai Havertz has pulled his weight with ten goals and two assists so far this season.
Henry spoke about his former club's front three on Sky Sports, criticizing the Gunners for being heavily reliant on Saka for goal creation. He said about Martinelli in particular:
"Martinelli's best asset is his pace, but he never uses it. When he is One v One and there's space in behind, he chooses the safe option and goes backwards. I would never do that. Then when Arsenal are in trouble, what do they do? Pass the ball to Bukayo Saka, every team knows this."
Morgan has agreed with Henry's remarks as he urged Martinelli to listen to the Premier League icon's advice. The Englishman wrote on X:
"Thierry’s spot on. Listen to him @gabimartinelli…. he knows."
The Gunners are third in the Premier League table, six points off of league leaders Liverpool and four points behind second-placed Chelsea.
"It feels like he’s gone backwards" - Paul Scholes says Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli 'has stalled'
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes Gabriel Martinelli has taken a turn for the worse given his recent performances. The pundit feels he's not the same player he was earlier at the Emirates.
Martinelli had a great campaign in the 2022-23 season, scoring 15 goals in 34 Premier League starts that term. The Brazilian helped the Gunners challenge Manchester City in the title race.
However, his tally declined to eight goals last season, and he's now struggling for form. Speaking about his performances of late, former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes said (via Metro):
"Yeah, it feels like he’s gone backwards a little bit. You thought a year, 18 months ago, ‘wow, what a player’, and he has stalled a little bit. He’s still young, isn’t he? We said pre-season a centre-forward was always something that we felt Arsenal needed, and for some reason I don’t think the manager did."
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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava