[](https://i0.wp.com/highbury-house.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_1126-e1736716011392.jpeg?ssl=1)
Photo from freepik.
Morning all.
I read this description of Gabriel Martinelli’s recent performances. I say recent but this includes last season too.
_He’s trying — that much is clear — but the execution is off._
_Attackers often produce their best football when playing off the cuff, when trusting their instincts. In an Arsenal shirt, Martinelli frequently looks like a player attempting to adhere to instruction — a natural improviser who’s been given lines to learn._
Within the article, written by James McNicholas in The Athletic, he highlighted a moment during our game against Liverpool when Martinelli’s decision making was poor. We all spotted it I’m sure. During the first half, our winger was hot footing in down the left with the ball with Viktor Gyokeres running into space ahead of him. The best decision would have been to send our new striker on his way with a pass ahead of him but instead, he carried on down the left wing, the move fizzling out to nothing.
Today’s Gabriel Martinelli is very different to the one who first arrived at Arsenal during Unai Emery’s reign.
What I found interesting in the above clip, which I know is all his good bits, is the rapport he Martinelli had with Bukayo Saka who was playing at left back under Unai Emery. Partnerships in football are important. We’ve seen it with Ben White and Saka on the right for a few years now but our left side, doesn’t seem to be as fruitful regardless of whether it’s Riccardo Calafiori or Myles Lewis-Skelly playing at left back. Or Jurrien Timber for that matter.
Also, and perhaps his critics sometimes forget this but with our left back inverting at every given opportunity, Martinelli is often dropping deep to defend and defend well he does too. It might just be my perception but I’m sure Martinelli’s defensive duties are required more often than Saka’s are.
I’m not trying to find an excuse for Martinelli’s inability to spot Gyokeres in a great position, not that he’s the only player struggling in that department, but perhaps if he could get back to playing with more freedom, he’d get somewhere back to his best. As McNicholas pointed out though, it was when the team as a whole lacked organisation, Martinelli was very good so perhaps it’s the system stifling him rather than his own ability. He hasn’t got the silky or skilled footwork to get past his man but he pace to burn. Arsenal’s slow and steady buildup doesn’t help a player like Martinelli any more than not being able to bring Gyokeres into the game does.
It seems like everything Martinelli does is done under a microscope. Get something wrong and the media are on it, the fans are on it and his place in the team is questioned. If Gyokeres doesn’t score goals on a regular basis, he too will come under the same microscope and the same criticism.
Perhaps I’m just old fashioned but why can’t defenders defend, midfielders defend and create depending on their position, wingers be wingers and strikers be strikers. Nowadays, every player is expected to be everything and be everywhere. Great if we’re in total control of a game but hard on our forwards if they are back defending one minute before being expected to get forward quickly and do something magical. Hard on our defenders too as they are doing the same, especially our fullbacks.
But that seems to be football in 2025, for Arsenal anyway…
Catch up in the comments.