Some Gooners were not surprised that Gabriel Martinelli did not start against Crystal Palace; the Brazilian had struggled to influence games in the run-up to the midseason break.
There were constant calls for him to be benched, and he was against Palace. Fortunately, Arsenal are able to still perform without him. By the time he was substituted on in the 69th minute, the Gunners were already leading 3-0. As if desperate to gain a starting spot when Arsenal plays next, the Brazilian was hyped in that cameo appearance; he scored twice in the final minutes of the game to pick up a brace.
Though everyone was pleased that his goals helped Arsenal to a 5-0 victory, others wondered if he had started the game and whether he would have been as influential as he was after coming on as a sub. Indirectly responding to that question, Mikel Arteta stated that the winger should have started the game, but he did not because he wasn’t 100% in training heading to the game, so he wasn’t fit to start.
As quoted by the club’s official website, Arteta said about Martinelli: “He had a little issue in the last few days in training, so he wasn’t fully, fully fit, that changes momentum, it changes perception, it re-energises you. It’s everything.”
It remains to be seen whether Martinelli will start the next time Arsenal plays. If he starts, let’s hope he picks up where he left off. There was speculation that if there had been extra minutes at the end of that game, the Arsenal No. 11 would have easily picked up a hat-trick.
Maybe Arsenal should use Martinelli as a supersub more often when our opponents are tiring?
What do you think?
Darren N
For a couple more games maybe as the Brazilian should be afforded some well needed rest.
But he has to start in Arsenal ideal 4 3 3 formation set up,
Cutting inside from the left wing, his skill set is best suited to beating players and finding the space for a shot inside the box when Arsenal need to start the game strongly.
Martinelli could become dangerous again when playing as a starter, if Arsenal could figure out how to unblock the half-spaces effectively
Arsenal managed to give him several through balls from those spaces in their last match, because Crystal Palace were forced to open up their defense
It would be only a matter of time before Martinelli replaces Trossard, because Trossard tends to lose the ball too often and is too slow to retrieve it
@gaiTrossard until. Crystal Palace game seems to have lost his shooting acuracy. I think Arteta as a coach needs to improve his tactical varieties to accommodate Matinelli and Saka.. It is obvious Matinelli one vs one is a dangerous player and would most likely score. His two goals against Palace clinical. Not as a surb he needs to be a starter.
Trossard failed to convert a clear-cut chance into a goal, but he managed to score after he was given the second chance
Martinelli is very lethal in counter-attack. I think he’ll become productive again if he plays with a physically-dominant CF, as Giroud did to Sanchez
We also don’t know how brilliant, or not Martinelli can be as a center forward. This spell between now and the end of the campaign, while hardly time to be experimenting, could tell the club somthing it didn’t know and if the Brazilian shows the potential to be moulded into that full time it can also impact what happens in the summer.
Yes we know, he started as a striker for emery in his arsenal career!
He’s the best finisher at the club and has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. I’d like to see him up front and Jesus moved out into the left wing where he can run about as much as he wants and Zinchenko can benefit from his excellent defending.
There should be no set starters in general especially attackers, it should be modified depending on who you are playing game by game and the best players suited to the tactics used.
exactly in some games trossard is a better pick than martinelli. Same goes for Havertz/ESR/Jorginho, Zinchenko/Tomiyasu and White/Timber.
He obviously needs space ahead of him to utilise his pace and running skill.
There was space ahead of him against crystal palace because they had to take a chance and open up with 20 minutes to go and being 3 nil behind.
Most teams will sit tight in a low block against Arsenal and double up on our wingers denying them space, so I would not read too much into his display against crystal palace when they finally opened up with the game already lost.
Need a player like ESR in tight spaces and either Trossard as a false number 9 to drag defenders out of position, or a Strong TargetMan to create space by holding off defenders. This will aid in giving space to Martinelli or Sake to run into.
Both Martinelli and Saka are highly effective on the counter attack, but unfortunately this season they are the principal victims of our Manager’s tactics to win the possession game at all costs.By the time we move up the pitch as a unit they are obliged to drop deep to receive the ball by which time the opposition has regrouped and are able to double up on our wingers.Compare our tactics with those deployed by Liverpool who are not averse to playing long balls from defence, usually through Konate and Arnold, to their quick wingers who can find themselves in one for one situations.Martinelli and Saka are at least the equal of Nunez and Diaz and would be equally dangerous if they receive the ball in the final third.Liverpool also seem happy to rotate their wingers and with the intelligent Jota linking with them they are becoming a handful for most defences.Sadly I don’t suppose Arteta will consider changing his rigid thinking and we are likely to be faced with more frustration as our talented wingers are unable to fulfil their potential.
Grandad don’t you think it’s an issue of personnel as well? Let’s consider our deep lying players, which of them can be considered excellent long passers? I’d say Jorginho and Partey- when they are on the pitch, they consistently play long balls that have led to goals. Unfortunately Partey is injured and Jorginho doesn’t always play because of his other limitations. I believe Zinchenko is very good too but he prefers ball carrying to passing it. In the next category,I’d put White,Rice,Raya who are good but not to the level of the first two in my opinion. Gabriel tries but I don’t think he’s that good. Surprisingly,and for his technical ability, I never see Saliba attempt many long passes. Our best bet is probably White but it’s challenging to ping long balls from the fullback area unless you’re switching play. The purchase of Raya(a gk known for good long passing) and Havertz( a long passing target/outlet) tells me the manager has a place for long passing in his tactics. That said, I believe, like you, that the need to possess the ball at all costs restricts players to safe passes. Maybe the manager should mix it up ( a bit of control/possession and a bit of risk taking).
Good points Onyango.The absence of Partey in particular has been a blow as he has the ability to make the longer through balls better than anyone else in our squad.It’s a question of risk and reward and the trouble is our Manager does not seem amenable to the Liverpool method as he has served his apprenticeship under the ultimate possession “King” in Pep.I should imagine that all his support team are also singing from the same hymn sheet, and it maybe needs an influential “outsider” to suggest a more direct form of attacking at least from time to time.What concerns me even more is the fact that our wingers rarely interchange but are obliged to stay wide in their starting positions.How often have you seen Saka and Martinelli taking on defenders from the left and right wing positions where they can cross on their stronger foot?As a fan who hopes Arteta can win us the League in the next year or two it’s so frustrating to witness the misuse of our generational talents due to an obsession not to give the ball away and if fans think signing a physical CF will suddenly turn us into world beaters, they are mistaken in my opinion.
It is not always the case that Martinelli comes on as a super sub. We require Martinelli to start against the big teams because of his sheer ability and talent. Trossard is also a very good player and can start ahead of Martinelli but I would prefer Martinelli to start int the big games and Trossard to come on as a sub. It is great that we have 2 very talented players competing for positions and also Trossard can play no.9 and as a CAM.
It’s great to see the rotation and substitutions Arteta used in the match.
How he used both Trossard and Martinelli, and especially bringing in ESR who had a noticeably positive impact on the game.
Jesus could do the same with Saka on the RW, if only we had a proper striker.
A good and needed win, and we need the confidence before facing Liverpool.
IMHO Forest is a great opportunity to limit the minutes of our key players like Martinelli, Saka, Jesus, Odegaard, and probably Rice as well.
Sub them out early, or sub them on late, but no reason they need to play 70 minutes or more. A great opportunity to rest some players, let’s see what Arteta decides.
Going by your article, Martinelli was not benched as a tactical approach but because he was not fit. This means that nothing has changed. Arsenal fans should not expect any change from him. The same tactics, none rotation of players, late substitutions, sideways and backways passes are what to see in a match against Forest. One step forward, two steps backwards Arteta team 😅😅😅
Small details overlooked: The starter, Troussard, scored the third goal before Martinelli came on. Martinelli has not been finishing anywhere close to last year.