If Arsenal are not serious about Eberechi Eze, there is one obvious transfer they will be begging Andrea Berta to make.
Most Gooners will be pleading with the club’s hierarchy to get Mikel Arteta a proper left winger, because Gabriel Martinelli, once electric, now looks worryingly flat.
Three pre-season games in, and Martinelli’s attacking output has been alarmingly poor. He is a shadow of his 2022-23 self, offering next to nothing in the final third.
Martinelli’s stats vs Spurs raise concerns
Take the 1-0 North London derby defeat in Hong Kong:
Martinelli vs Spurs
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68 minutes played
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7 passes completed
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1 shot (off target)
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0 out of 2 dribbles
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0 out of 4 duels won
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0 tackles
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5 possessions lost
Max Dowman, in just 17 minutes, had more touches than Martinelli managed in over an hour!
Creativity? Absent. 1v1 threat? Non-existent. Compared to Bukayo Saka, it is night and day. Arsenal’s attacking play is one-sided. Everything flows through the right.
Martinelli, at best, looks like a squad option or impact substitute. As a starter, he has dropped off completely. Arteta needs to see that.
Transfer solution: Leão or bust?
Arsenal need a proper left winger. Is it ambitious to ask for Rafael Leão? Maybe. But his profile does not grow on trees.
The AC Milan star is a rare breed – explosive in transition, lethal in 1v1s and strikes the ball with venom. He is the kind of dynamic winger who changes games. Not just unlocking low blocks, but ripping through them.
Andrea Berta and Arteta must find the funds. If Arsenal want to win the league, they need Leão-level quality on the left.
Eze is a low-block killer, yes, but he is better centrally. He is not the explosive winger Arsenal lack. So, without a top-class left winger, the Gunners risk another season of attacking imbalance and transition struggles.
Your thoughts welcome in the comments.
Daniel O
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We need to stop being a fanbase that points the finger at one player time and time again. It’s rare wingers consistently deliver against PL competition. Our tactics over the past two seasons have seen our attack almost solely focus down the right channel, leaving Martinelli/Trossard to focus more on coming central and defensive work, which doesn’t work to their attacking strengths.
Our tactics have hampered Martinelli in particular but this summer we’ve bought players more likely to find passes on the left flank; Zubimendi, Norgaard and potentially Eze are players that could release Martinelli on counter attacks, something he is actually great at. Not only that but whereas Saka at RW has benefitted from White/Timber on the overlap and Odegaard’s constant presence who has supported GM? Zinny? MLS? Rice? Merino? Nope. Only the regularly injured Calafiori has helped Martinelli along with the now gone Tierney. He’s had no consistency behind him. And let’s not forget when Saka was injured last season GM came back and saved our bacon.
Martinelli loves the club, the fans and has ignored all other club’s attention. We’ve finally got players who will support him, just give him a little patience.
Do I think another player is needed on the LW? Yes, of course, competition is great and Trossard is on the wane. But do we really need to keep dragging Martinelli’s name through the mud? And after a near pointless pre-season friendly thats more about fitness? It’s getting ridiculous.
I really like Leao and would love to see him challenge GM for a starting spot but don’t forget MA’s tactics require our wingers to drop back and defend. As much as I like Leao he is famous for not helping out defensively, he also frequently disappears and struggles for consistent form.
Can we all just be a little more rational before forming the next Gooner witch-hunt…
Well said, some people just can’t see what’s actually happening on the field
On the Leão topic, I have watched his games often over the past years as my best mate is a Milan supporter. Let’s just say that he has all the talent in the world but his decision making and teamwork is horrible and can have quite an attitude. Like many of our targets, all of his strengths will be completelty nullified by the way we play
MM, terrific post and one I agree with wholly.
Cheers PJ-SA and Herr Drier, I’m glad there’s other fans that share the sentiment. The fact GM has had incredible plaudits from Klopp amongst other top managers, Bayern are interested in him (a team famous for spotting talented wingers) and the fact he’s happy to play in a system that doesn’t currently benefit him makes me feel he’s so worth keeping and encouraging. We need different types of players to affect games in different ways 🙂👍
You read my mind
Martinelli has struggled ever since Xhaka left and Jesus misssed so much time due to injury. The trifecta of Chaka, Jesus and GM was a dynamic almost as much as Saka, MO and White on the right. We’ve tried to replace Xhaka with Havertz, Merino and Rice as well but it hasn’t clicked for GM. Let’s see what Zubimendi brings freeing up Declan and make our left side more dangerous
Berta and Arteta have tried so far. We should sell Martinelli and bring in Rafael Leào immediately. His price is very moderate and Arsenal can afford it. Leào and Eze will complete our Summer signings.
I would sign both Eze and Rafael as replacement for Martinelli and Trossard but Eze deal is a better one.
Arsenal need to change expecially wingers that unable to dribble past s player, he is only depends on running only, most expecially on low block team it’s very difficult to for such player that the tactics employ for most teams on premiership mostly while playing against arsenal.So Matinelli most sell even,AdemolabLukman more preferably
Arsenal does not play free flowing football anymore.
It’s all robotic, sideways, backwards, rinse and repeat.
Arteta has killed the joy of watching Arsenal as they move the ball ponderously
When that does not work, it’s long throw ins and corner attempts.
Time to get a new manager who is not obsessed with processes and projects that are failing
That’s just dumb
You’re not wrong. We transition slowly more often than not, thereby saturating otherwise available space for attacking opportunities.
We assist the opposition’s low blocks by our slow build-up, yet our strength going forward is our pace on the flanks which is lethal when there is space in-behind.
Raya needs to be integral in the transition from back to flank.,
The negative obsession with Martinelli is astounding.
Can you please provide Havertz’s stats in the same game.
I think some fans just want to see European players only, in the entire Arsenal squad. They should just come out and say it.
First it was African players and now we apparently have an aversion to non Europeans. The mind boggles
God bless the writer, martinelli is an anchor dragging us back, it should be cut loose already
In the most recent articles on this site, Arsenal are now “interested” in Leão, Eze, Rodrygo and Lookman (I may have missed a few).
Plenty to choose from then (assuming we don’t get the lot, just to be sure), but hardly a word, let alone a sentence, about who Arsenal is actually going to sell. I wish we could read more of “Arsenal sells x, y, z” – it is quite an important part of the equation after all. Anyway, we’ll see.
Martinelli is indeed a wounderful player, he is my best player in Arsenal. I would love to see Arsenal keeping him rather than selling him. But signing a new left winger is actually what Arsenal needs, so players can be fit, because it is not easy playing every match of a season, even the Champions League, FA Cup, Caraboa Cup as well as the Premier League. Speaking about Rapheal Leao he doesn’t fit Arsenal style of play, the person i would love to see in Arsenal is Rodrygo which will fit Arsenal style of play not even Eze, but if Eze is to sign for Arsenal he should play as a attacking midfielder not a left winger.
I don’t read too much into stats during pre-season. There’s often a lot of experimenting going on which may affect player stats.
With that said, I am not averse to getting an upgrade on Martinelli. However I don’t think we should sell him.