Martinelli must play… by Dan Smith
They say actions speak louder than words.
Martinelli’s volley against Newcastle with his second touch of the game forced Mikel Arteta to state that the 20-year-old deserved more minutes.
After a goal like that, our manager couldn’t really say anything else.
Should the Brazilian have to go to those lengths though just to get a chance?
He’s been feeding off scraps this season, the majority of time not getting off the bench, when he does he gets limited time to make an impact.
When Saka went off injured at home to Palace he was replaced by a DM, it took us going 2-1 down for a 10 minute cameo.
When we needed a goal at Brighton, he wasn’t trusted while even being 4-0 down at Anfield didn’t lead to him getting a run out.
The strangest thing Is our attack has hardly been pulling up trees.
Before the weekend we had scored as many times as possible from set pieces than we had from open play.
We have failed to score in 5 Prem fixtures out of 14, Aubameyang doesn’t press like he used too while it’s accepted that Lacazette won’t be signing a new deal.
So, if you an attacker and can’t get a run in this Arsenal team, then when will you?
The irony is the players seems to naturally have the attributes that his boss wants. He runs himself into the ground.
If there is something the player lacks, isn’t it the coach’s job to teach and make him better?
Wasn’t that Arteta’s strength at Man City, his work with talent 1-1 on the training pitch?
In North London though he’s been allowed to give up on individuals.
Instead of a remit of getting the best out of his resources, his employers have allowed him to pay players to sit at home, rip up contracts, loan out assets to the point their value drops.
This is a man who once said that Guendouzi and Ozil not making a squad for an FA Cup Final was a footballing decision.
This is when you could have 9 subs and a young Matt Smith (still yet to play a senior game for us) made the bench.
So, we don’t know if Martinelli will get his chance or if he’s another who simply doesn’t fit into his managers ethos.
Arteta can no longer hide behind the lad’s injuries.
He’s fit and ready.
If he doesn’t start at Old Trafford, it might never happen for the player under this regime.
Dan Smith
Must get a run of starts regardless of performance at OT.
It’s unfair to start him against good opposition like in the start of the season then write him off if he has a poor game…any player needs a proper run to show what they can do.
I’ve got a feeling that he won’t start and Arteta will go with both Laca and Auba .
But like PJ said above if he does start and dosnt perform I hope the hatchet job does not start .
He needs a continually run of games something Arteta hasn’t managed to do so far with him .
That being said would love for him to start tonight
I’ll prefer Pepe because of the atmosphere.
Like Auba, Martinelli disappears lots of time when game isn’t going his way
How can Martinelli disappear in games when he never plays .
He started in all our first 3games of the season isn’t it, and has been a constant sub
But how manu games has Pepe started since we signed him in 2019 as compared to Martinelli?
Pepe seems to always get enough game time even if he has been a complete disappointment.
I say give Martinelli as many chances as Pepe has been afforded since 2019 and we can then compare more objectively.
You know we should not be having this conversation if Pepe had hit the ground running.
Pepe was supposed to be a star man in this team, and Martinelli a potential to slowly get integrated, if not for our senior players lack of effort, we should not be relying on the young guys, but it is what it is
We have to support them all, they are our players, and hope they could push each other and get the best out of themselves.
Am just not ok with some fans agenda because they feel a certain player deserves to play, IMO no player on our bench deserve a place in the team, even Auba , there is no better option at the club atm, all others are not good enough, the issue we have is CF and no one is fit enough for that role at the moment.
Everyone will get their chance let’s not impose a player on the team because we have some sentiment, and let’s not put too much pressure on our players
Wow what a horrific example….you are trying to insinuate something that is just false.
Only started due to injuries not by choice, team was terrible in general and who did we play again??? What minute does he usually get subbed on??
He’s played 185 minutes in the EPL all season including his 2 starts. From the bench he has had 37 minutes in total this season and if you exclude the last game from Saka’s injury as a forced sub, take a guess how many minutes he’s had from the bench as a given opportunity(not forced by injury)???
A grand total of 11 minutes this season. Sit down son.
He played due to injury and what was his output, he played against Brentford the newly promoted side.
And are you suggesting we bench Saka or ESR for him to get more playing times?
How many minutes has Pepe gotten this season?
Look at the whole teams output against Brentford? Biased against one player in that game? lol
I’m suggesting he starts some games against certain teams and is maybe brought on every couple of games for 20-30mins rather that at the 88th minute. If you can’t understand that logic then i don’t know man.
Why would he replace Saka or ESR when he could replace Auba on occasion…or are you trying to prove a point by only naming those 2 players?
You and I aren’t qualified to question the coach decision especially when things are going his way.
We are not in his shoes we don’t know what led the subs, the tactic and changes it’s our duty to back the team, let’s complain when things aren’t getting the way we want
Come on MikelArteta,go with this formation
Ramsdale
Tomi,White,Gabriel,Tierney
Partey,Lokonga
Emile Smith Rowe
Martinelli,Lacazette,Tavarez.
Substitution
Leno
Cedric
Holding
Chambers
Pablo Mari
Maitland Niles
Elneny
Pepe
Aubameyang
🙄🙄🙄
🙄🙄🙄
Facts.
Martinelli’s time will come.
There is no need to force it.
Using just 13 starters got us to 4th equal.
Why change a successful formula?
Martinelli + Pepe are offensive impact players best when the game opens up in the second half
As it looks like Saka won’t be playing, then yes, Martinelli should play, in my opinion.
If Saka is unfit, Martinelli would probably be rewarded with a rare start in the right wing position
Otherwise it would depend on Arteta’s tactic. If Arteta needs to have a right-footed CAM, Martinelli would probably play on the left wing
What a BS article, with the tone set in it and everything going on.
Few weeks ago Martinelli’s dad came out and said Martinelli isn’t going anywhere anytime soon because Arteta and Arsenal made it clear to them that he’s very important to the team and he’ll get his chances.
Few days ago, after scoring, Martinelli himself said he knows he has to bid his time and will take the chances when they come.
The manager had a 72million pounds player on the bench but chose to bring on Martinelli instead.
Keeps saying Martz is important and he works hard.
Yet we’re supposed to believe he has something against the boy. Just like he has something against Balogun and he had something against ESR when he became the manager.
He hates the kids.
Don’t care who plays tonight, whoever plays, I just want the three point.
Only Arsenal fans will suddenly have quality players over the pitch who are perform well and giving themselves good competition and yet the fanbase will try to make it look toxic that one other player plays.
We all have no doubt that Martinelli is an important part of this team.
Was he supposed to bench Auba, Lacazette or Saka during that run that fired us up the table?
Like Fairfan said, his time will come, and there was no need to force anything or change the team that kept bringing the wins.
We’ve seen it with previous managers, Wenger at a point did it with Lacazette, Emery did it too, but it’s an issue now all of sudden, and if Martz doesn’t play tonight, the management hates him and there will be no going back
Bloody hell eddie you on Artetas PR team ,I’ve never seen someone so defensive regarding Lego hair .
Nah Dan, I am on the team’s PR team.
Whatever you choose to tell yourself.
You’ve not seen me making one bad comment against any of the staffs including the players at the club have you?
I’ll defend all of them, including Arteta.
That’s what a supporter does.
I do realize we’re not the best of the bunch yet and we were extremely poor last season. I also made it clear that last season I was only Supporting him because he was a rookie who needed to learn on the job and that he won’t be getting any free pass from me this season.
This season after the first three games I’ve criticized and questioned his growth.
Now he’s gone and turned it around, he’s doing well so far and what would you have me do? Go at him and the boys?
I don’t give a damn about who he selects, as long as the players he selects gets the job done.
Martinelli, Pepe, Saka, or Maybe even Nketiah and Balogun.
As long as they get the three points.
I’m not looking at having a go at the manager all the time like over half of you guys on here do.
Doesn’t mean you guys are not fans of the club or I’m not.
We all have different means of supporting our clubs.
You do your thing and let me keep doing mine
I have actually Eddie yes
Pepe last week !
So, until Auba begin to cost us points, then should he be benched?
Nah bro, I don’t give a damn about who gets benched as long as who plays brings the results.
During those runs, Auba, Lacazette, ESR and Saka contributed greatly to all the points.
I don’t have a problem with any of them playing back then.
I won’t give a damn about who’s on the bench in the future if we keep winning and getting the points.
If Auba’s thrown to the bench tonight and Lacazette, or Martinelli, or Nketiah plays, I still won’t give a damn about who’s on the bench if we get all three points tonight.
How is it so hard for you folks to understand?
but he hasn’t brought the results ?
games I spoke about we didn’t win
Dan where is the team on the table?
You guys like to talk about how the table does not lie.
He didn’t win those games but where’s the team on the table?
Apart from losing against three of the best teams and Brentford.
We’ve only drawn two games.
Is it that you expected us to win every single game we played this season?
Even City and Liverpool dropped points.
If we win tonight, we’ll be fourth but suddenly you don’t care about the progress made after the terrible start of the season.
You just care about who starts and who doesn’t start
5 th ? Having finished 8th twice
It’s not unreasonable to watch games like Brighton , Palace , Liverpool and think lad deserves more of a chance
“During those runs, Auba, Lacazette, ESR and Saka contributed greatly to all the points.”
Remove Auba from that statement and it will be fine
On performance, Pepe did better than Martinelli last season and despite that MA favour him more and has given him more playing time so far this season, fans still think the coach has agenda against him.
Am not surprised, since I have seen worst article, ‘no matter how Arteta perform in the next 18months he should leave for a new coach’.
How any sane fan think like that is beyond every reason
@adajim & @eddie. True Arsenal supporters. Respect fam
Pls, who has gotten more game time this season, Pepe or Martinelli?😲
This is wrong and highly misleading comment. Pepe started in like 4-5 straight games this season. Martinelli was in the first 3 because the team was thin.
Pepe got dropped for his bad form and for team cohesion and balance (last part applies to ODE too).
Even after Pepe got dropped, he still came off the bench first. Not until recently has he been completely overlooked.
So please, in what world has Martinelli being favoured and that so over Pepe???
Arteta has already shown that if he does not rate a player at any given time he will make it clear or will push them out. “Ozil, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Reiss, Mav, Saliba, Guendouzi, Bellerin, Willock, Leno etc..
But he seems to keep retaining Martinelli around the team.
@Eddie
Agree with everything you write. Absolutely no reason for this toxic accusation. Let’s trust the manager to make his decisions on what he thinks is best for the team. If it is Martinelle to start, fine by me, if it is Martinelli on the bench, also fine.
Lets not forget that according to the many dullards who inhabit this site “MA holds grudges against MANY of our younger players”!
Yes I know; me too! But it really is sickening to have to read such absolute nonsense from fans who probably believe they are right . Sigh!
TheY simply cannot understand how any manager can put the club and teams success before their personal favourites, as he is paid to do.
You do have to wonder at the IQ of some fans!
What success ?
Well, Arteta could be magnanimous in his starts making for our Man Utd game by ringing some few chances to his team that beat Newcastle.
But certainly the changes if made shouln’t be at the expense of Arsenal not winning the match.
To satisfy the demands of some Gooners who want to see Nuno drop for Tierney start as Left wing back, and those who want both NT and KT to start. Let me urge Arteta to start both players.
Ramsdale.
Tomiyasu White Gabriel Tierney.
Partey Lokonga Nino.
Saka or Pepe? Martinelli Auba.
But where do I leave ESR who is expected to start the match?
Replace Auba with ESR..
Easy peasy
Arsenal’s surge up the table is more on their defense than the Attack in my opinion.. cos our defensive players have won more man of the match awards than the attacking players in this long run..
I don’t think one can really say Aubameyang has contributed much to where we are at the table to justify him not being replaced.
I don’t think any fan could have a personal hatred for a player.. Just like so many fans doesn’t rate Pepe and do not even want to see him on the pitch, same Should go for Aubameyang cos he contributes little to nothing.
Lastly Odegaard was dropped for Lacazette when we were in a good run of result as well, Simply cos he wasn’t adding much to the team and not because we were winning matches.. The same should go for Auba, it doesn’t matter where we are at the table, his not contributing to it in any standard..
How long do u think our defense+goalkeeper will keep bailing us out of trouble if we keep carrying passengers as attackers
You are……..an intellectual person!🤔 @Buddy.
Absolutely spot that conclusion. The goal is to make the team better. Because in actual sense, Arsenal doesn’t look as good or dangerous as the teams around them.
Thank you, Okay Gunnerz. Initially, Arteta claimed that there was no connection between him(Martinelli) and Tierney, in the left flank but I also honestly can’t see any bond between Aubameyang and Tierney either. This is just him trying to make an excuse over his decision to bench Martinelli. It is so obvious that this lad has been unfairly treated by the coach, he himself admitting that it’s been difficult not playing him. Why should we continue to start a player who can’t control the ball, dribble, tussle, link-play……. FCS! He is just too defective!😩 I am not questioning his workrate as he’s been impressive, most recently, but, he needs to be scoring, Auba.