Gabriel Martinelli: Dogged and Determined

[freeglennhelder2]

Never seen two yellows like that in the same phase in all my years.

Gabi has a wild streak in his DNA and it’s the same thing that makes him a nightmare for defenders, trying to close them down 24/7 like his life depended on it. Have been concerned about him getting sent off in the past.

I’m sure Arteta is secretly loving that siege mentality being built up.

 

[pigge]

Love the mentality, see that rush back for the Foul, so ****ing fast and instant reaction, rest of the team ballwatching for 0,5-2 seconds before reacting. Love it. Fk refs. ****ing r tards

 

[Barry]

Think it’s good timing for ESR to come in and gabbi have sit down for a bit.

It's actually great for both of them that they have genuine competition. You want them neck and neck for that place in the team. Glad ESR here a few games as well, though he seems to have lost a bit of explosiveness since the beginning of the season. Maybe they were all just partying in Dubai!

 

[Dutch D]

Never seen two yellows like that in the same phase in all my years.

I see your two yellows and I raise you two red cards in the same passage of play by Ajax in the CL against Chelsea.

But yeah, first yellow is fine. If I look closely it's probably a foul throw in, so should've stopped there. The second yellow is harsh imo.

 

[Penn_]

Nothing to see here really, getting two yellows for that in the same game would be harsh, in the same passage of play is just ridiculous.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

I have to say tho, thank **** it's only Brentford next (yeah I know they beat us away), because Laca with ESR, Ødegaard and Saka in attack lacks runners behind.

 

[Wrighty4eva]

Love the kid but really stupid tonight on such a nothing play. Would've been on him if we'd dropped any points.

I disagree, he stopped the momentum of that play, that could have led up to something after a foul throw by the opposition.

 

[Kav]

I can’t understand anyone blaming Martinelli for that. How was he to know he would have received the first yellow in the circumstances?

That being said the referees in the league are not very good or consistent in their application of the laws of the game. This is the bigger problem. We love know the ref is bad. Between him, Atkinson, dean, friend and mariner they barely make up one competent referee.

It was an unusual application of the law and for that I am genuinely concerned.

 

[AberGooner]

I disagree, he stopped the momentum of that play, that could have led up to something after a foul throw by the opposition.

If you raise your hands your asking for it. It might be soft but that's what football is nowadays.

 

[Riou]

Glad his first game back, is at home to those ****s from the Midlands...hatty needed!

That's a yellow and a final warning at most, at every other club... it's mad what our players have to deal with from refs.

 

[Symbia]

Seems like refs are turning to be our main opponents in every match.
The second yellow card is harsh and for the fact that it was the second in quick succession makes wonder the ref had in mind.

 

[CaseUteinberger]

Seems like refs are turning to be our main opponents in every match.
The second yellow card is harsh and for the fact that it was the second in quick succession makes wonder the ref had in mind.

Simple, he wanted to give us a red! It is like Arteta said. You have to be very willing to give that!

 

[CaseUteinberger]

Between him, Atkinson, dean, friend and mariner they barely make up one competent referee.

100% this! They are absolutely dreadful!

 

[Symbia]

Simple, he wanted to give us a red! It is like Arteta said. You have to be very willing to give that!

Dude must be forming commando against us.
'You lads should never mess with me', 'I am in charge... '
Oliver the relentless.
Massive upgrade on Pierluigi Collina!
Typical epl.
Best league, trashy officials minus maybe, Mike Dean.

 

[Big Poppa]

I was more worried about his over exuberance getting him injured than getting him sent off. Actually don’t think a forced break is a bad thing for him, as I think Arteta is just extremely reluctant to ever rotate. ESR is more than capable of filling the void.

 

[N@th@n]

If the ref thinks he fouled the throw in taker while taking the throw surely you have to re-take the set play? Regardless of "advantage" the set piece has been interfered with.

Thats what I don't understand with this. Either what happened wasn't a foul or you have to re-take it?

 

[samshere]

Its unfortunate for him though, if ESR does well then he'll become the starter and Martinelli the sub. Overall though, we'll be able to take the blow. We're fairly well covered in the wings with ESR and Pepe both able to fill in.

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

 

[Macho]

Spoiler: My Game In My Words. By Gabriel Martinelli

Adam Crafton

Gabriel Martinelli sits on the sofa of his north London home and begins to smile. Conversation has turned to the nucleus of young footballers emerging together under Mikel Arteta’s guidance at Arsenal. Martinelli discusses the New Year’s Day fixture against Manchester City, where Arsenal were eventually defeated 2-1, but only following a red card for defender Gabriel and a last-minute winner for Pep Guardiola’s champions.

Most observers recognised both progress and a growing sense of unity within the Arsenal team. Eight of Arsenal’s starting players were aged 24 or below and a coterie of zestful and invigorating players, including Ben White, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, now capture the hearts of the Arsenal fanbase.

Martinelli, still only 20 himself, is increasingly integral to Arteta’s process. Until suspension ruled him out of Saturday’s victory over Brentford, the Brazilian had started nine consecutive Premier League matches and, after a couple of serious injuries previously slowed his development, now appears back to his best in Arsenal colours. His previous appearance against Wolves yielded a rare blip as he was dismissed for two yellow cards in the same sequence. Having already missed one match, he is loath to say anything about the incident that may cause trouble. He says: “The important thing is we got the three points and won the game. Now I come back for the return game against Wolves. Everyone who knows me knows I always try and do the best thing for the team and the club. I did not want to leave my team a man down but it happened and, thankfully, the players won the game for us.”

Martinelli arrived at Arsenal as an 18-year-old in July 2019 and his debut campaign was remarkable. He became the club’s first teenager to hit double digits in the scoring charts for a single season since Nicolas Anelka in the 1998-99 campaign and now Martinelli sees a group of young players capable of restoring the club to former glories. “We are so young,” Martinelli says. “The oldest player in the game against City was Laca (Alexandre Lacazette) but a lot of players are 22, 23, 24. We have time to improve and we are going to do that. One hundred per cent — we will be one of the best teams in the world.”

Today, however, Martinelli has invited The Athletic into his home to discuss his own development as part of our My Game in My Words series. We watch the 20-year-old’s best clips, from his goals and assists to sharp movement and crucial interceptions, and explore his journey from the Brazilian fourth division to the Premier League. Martinelli reveals his most challenging opponent, the demands of his manager Arteta, an increasingly telepathic understanding with Martin Ødegaard and his ambitions to break into Brazil’s squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

---

While Arsenal supporters rapidly embraced Martinelli, appreciation has also arrived from opposing managers. After he scored twice for Arsenal in a 5-5 draw against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup in 2019, Jurgen Klopp described the Brazilian as the “talent of the century”. Following this season’s semi-final success over Arsenal, Klopp doubled down on his praise. He said: “Martinelli, by the way, everyone should remember that name. Outstanding player.”
Klopp later added: “Little Martinelli, we will talk about this player in the future — I can promise. Without major injuries, Martinelli will have a proper career.”
The extent of Martinelli’s exposure in the Premier League is all the more staggering when we recall how, less than three years ago, this was a player appearing for Ituano FC in the fourth tier of Brazilian football.

Martinelli grew up in the sprawling Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. Raised by his mother Elizabete and his father Joao, Martinelli began his playing days at Corinthians, where he played the small-sided game of futsal. “That is what I played until the age of 11, five against five,” Martinelli says.
He then made the step-up to full-sided football for Corinthians until his father, a toolmaker, moved the family to Itu, a smaller municipality in the state of Sao Paulo.

Martinelli explains: “Juninho Paulista, the Brazilian midfielder who played for Middlesbrough, was the president of local team Ituano. My agent was friends with Juninho, so I started to play there at the age of 13. It was hard for me because Corinthians was really my life and, because we moved home, I also left behind my school friends. I cried a lot when I was told I needed to move. It was difficult for me being so young but it turned out to be really good.”

Martinelli’s birthplace may now be 6,000 miles away from home, but his pride and passion for his country stands out. On one wall of his living room in London hangs a canvas of Martinelli celebrating Brazil’s gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He was part of the squad and scored a penalty in the semi-final shootout win over Mexico. His first exposure to the national team came in the summer of 2019, when Brazil coach Tite asked Martinelli to train with the senior team as part of a camp that preceded Copa America.

What was that like? He blows out his cheeks and grins. “Amazing,” he says. “To train with Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, Fabinho, Fernandinho, all these players who are on the top level. These are the guys who I have watched on television. I was nervous because I am a little bit shy but I am on the pitch to train and play; I express myself.”

Is there an initiation for the Brazil national team? “When I went to the Olympic team, I had to sing,” he says. “Everyone does it the first time. Here in England you only have to sing. But in Brazil, they also ask you to impersonate animals! You start to sweat and stay there on the chair for 15 minutes. They say, ‘Do the same as a dog!’ and “Act like a cat!’ So it is like, ‘OK, miaow!’ I was so nervous, honestly.”
Martinelli is more at ease on the pitch and a highlights reel of some of his earliest goals for Ituano showcases his talents in their purest form.

We begin with this goal against Bragantino, where Martinelli, then aged 17, begins on the half-turn and powers past the first opponent in midfield. “In futsal,” he explains, “You move quickly and dribble in tight areas. It then feels easier when you are on a big pitch, as you have more space to exploit and if you are quick, you can run past defenders. Once I am running, it is pure instinct.”

Martinelli is now in full flight, motoring over the halfway line but possessing the awareness to see Ituano team-mates both to his right and left. In a three-on-one transition, Martinelli takes the smart choice, feeding his colleague and then running ahead to receive the return pass.

As Martinelli receives the ball back inside the penalty area, he remains ice-cold, impudently dinking a finish over the goalkeeper. “This is a cavadinha,” he explains. “That’s what we call a little chip. Futsal helps with my game in those small spaces. It helps you find solutions.”



For Arsenal supporters, Martinelli’s counter-attacking burst through the centre of the pitch and subsequent cool finish will evoke memories of his favourite and most famous goal for the club.
In January 2020, Arsenal trailed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and they had been reduced to 10 men. Then Arsenal successfully defended a corner. Martinelli runs 67 yards in the space of 13 seconds, leaving Emerson Palmieri in his wake and N’Golo Kante flat on his face, before coolly finishing. How many times have you watched this one, Gabby? “I have no idea… but I think one million times!”
It begins with a short-distance sprint between Chelsea’s Palmieri and Martinelli. Martinelli dribbles clear of Emerson, but then Kante comes into view….




Did Martinelli have any hesitation when the formidable Frenchman stood ahead of him? “No,” he insists. “I don’t think like that against any opponent. I believe in myself.” Kante trips up and Martinelli is away and closing in on goal. Is there any temptation to give the goal to Nicolas Pepe, who has overlapped on the right? “No!” Martinelli answers.




Martinelli continues: “When I am running in on goal, this is the easiest part. You do everything to get that chance, so when you are in front of the keeper, you just need to be calm. I have practised this kind of finishing since I was a child. I had some really good coaches at Corinthians and Ituano. One of them was Ze Sergio, who played for Sao Paulo and Brazil, who played in a similar way to me. He always said to me, ‘Dribble, finish well and always be yourself.'”
Martinelli followed the advice of his mentor, opening up his body and stroking the ball beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga.



As Martinelli matures, he does concede that the fearless abandon of youth is checked a little by the demands of Premier League football. “One hundred per cent, I do think more. I need to do that to read the game because you do not have too much time and space, and you must be quicker.”
Martinelli celebrated his goal by folding his arms in front of the travelling Arsenal fans and subsequently eagle-eyed supporters noticed a man in a beige jacket in the stands who had his arms folded. Was the celebration copying the fan? “No!” he grins. “Honestly, it was already in my mind the day before. I said I was going to do it and even told my mum. Then he did it and everyone thought, ‘Gabby copied him’.”

---

Martinelli’s debut season at Arsenal did, by any measure, escalate more than anyone might have imagined. He remembers playing in a tournament in Brazil, where his agent had mentioned interest from Europe had intensified. Martinelli told his representatives he would only discuss his future after the competition ended.

“Then my agent said we need to take a decision,” Martinelli recalls. “When he said Arsenal, I said, ‘OK, you do not need to say anything else, we are going to London’. My dad and I had watched the Premier League together, all the teams, like Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester. I actually had four different trials at United when I was 13, 14, 15 and 16. This was in Manchester at the club’s training base, where I played in the same age group as Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams, and I met first-team players, like Zlatan (Ibrahimovic), Paul Pogba, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra. There was never a moment, though, when they said they wanted me (to sign) there. But it give me a taste and made the adaptation a little easier because I had experienced football in England. Even after those trials, I always believed in myself. My mind is always thinking, ‘I can do it.'”
Arsenal’s interest in Martinelli had been triggered by the club scout Everton Gushiken, who reported into Arsenal’s then head of international scouting Francis Cagigao. Arsenal had previously considered inviting Martinelli for a trial, but Barcelona acted quicker — although the Catalans also decided not to make a formal offer. Cagigao flew to Brazil to watch Martinelli compete in the Copinha — an under-20 competition — and Martinelli was the leading goalscorer in the group phase. Both Gushiken and fellow Arsenal scout Jonathan Vidalle regularly watched Martinelli in action at Ituano. Due to the lack of data analysis available in the Brazilian fourth division, Arsenal’s judgment would depend on the senses. The nostrils were soon burning and Arsenal sealed a £6 million deal.

Martinelli recalls: “When I first signed for Arsenal, Unai Emery was the manager. I had signed to be an under-23 player but to train with the first team. Then I went on pre-season and I never played for the under-23 team after that. I knew the game was completely the opposite in England. Here you must be quicker, read the game faster and you do not have time to lose. It was a bit of a shock. I remember in pre-season, how players were onto you straight away. It was a little bit ‘Woah!’ But you get used to it, improve yourself and get ready. The coach and the boys made me feel part of the family.”

That is not to say the transition was easy. How could it be when a teenager is uprooted from Brazil into one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations? “It was a big step. The language was a big challenge because I did not know one word, apart from ‘hi’ and ‘thank you’. I had lessons but it was when I got injured that I learned the most because I was with the physio the whole time and it was just English for six months. On the pitch, in the dressing room, I could speak to David Luiz for example.”

Martinelli’s English is now sufficiently fluent to conduct the entire interview in his second language. On another wall in the living room he has a picture in Arsenal’s colours, as well as several framed shirts in a separate room that houses the pool table. In the garden, Martinelli has some goals laid out, with pocket target zones to perfect his accuracy.

If the transition off the field was challenging, Martinelli showed no ill-effects on it. In his early Arsenal displays, he scored impressive headers against Colorado Rapids in his first appearance in pre-season and then against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup. Some Arsenal supporters wonder whether Martinelli, who has largely played from the flanks under Arteta, may have a future as a dynamic centre-forward. Martinelli says, “I have played on the wings growing up, but I can play in the middle as well, or on the sides. I can do whatever the manager wants me to do.”

While Martinelli sheepishly points out he is a little young (born in 2001) to have grown up watching Ronaldinho, he does recall the tail-end of the Brazilian Ronaldo’s career, when the striker brought down the curtain on his playing days at Corinthians between 2009 and 2011, just as Martinelli began to play futsal for the club. “I wore the same No 9 shirt as Ronaldo in my games,” he says, with a smile.
As we progress through the clips, we can see the movement and poaching instincts Martinelli demonstrates in some of his early Arsenal goals.

In this example, he begins on the right wing as former Arsenal youngster Dominic Thompson receives the ball on the left flank.



Martinelli, sensing opportunity, then picks up the pace, sprinting into the penalty box to ensure he can be on the receiving end of a cross.



Martinelli is now goalside of his markers and best-placed to attack the ball. “You make so many runs and dashes like this,” Martinelli says. “Sometimes players see the run and think it is not the best option, so they play a pass another way. But you have to be there. And if you get that one chance, you have to score.
“We talk a lot between ourselves as players. I speak with Cedric Soares and I tell him where to put the ball and I ask him where he thinks he should put it. I think we have a good understanding.”
In this case, Thompson, who subsequently moved to Brentford and is currently on loan at Ipswich, nails the delivery.



And Martinelli powers his header home to score on his first appearance.



In another clip, the roles are reversed. At Newcastle towards the end of last season, he maintains his position wide on the left flank and receives the ball from Martin Ødegaard. He must then produce quality for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to attack.



The cross is perfect, delivered at pace and with precision for Aubameyang to convert. Martinelli nods: “It is because I know Auba. He can smell the goal. If you produce the right ball, he will score. It is about knowing the player. I have learned a lot from him and Laca. They were unbelievable with me. They taught players like me and Emile (Smith Rowe) in a humble way because ten years ago, they were in the same place as us, and they were always both so nice to me.”

---

While Martinelli’s debut 2019-20 for Arsenal may have been record-breaking, it was not without its complications. He worked under two permanent head coaches in Emery and Arteta, but it was the club’s interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg who handed Martinelli his first start for the club against West Ham, where the forward scored in a 3-1 victory. When the Premier League season was suspended due to the pandemic, Martinelli tore the cartilage in his left knee in training and did not appear for Arsenal between March 2, 2020 and December 8 in the same year. He could not attend all of Arsenal’s games while injured due to the COVID-19 restrictions, but he was part of the watching group at Wembley when Arsenal lifted the FA Cup in the summer of 2020.
As a young talent far from home, in the midst of a national lockdown, he does not disguise the challenging nature of the injury. For the only time during the interview, his voice softens and dims. He says: “I always try to be positive, but it was a really tough time. My parents are always with me, saying good things, saying I need to believe in myself and let any bad things pass. Then the next day you work hard and five and a half months after I suffered the injury, I was back playing. I did my rehabilitation in England and had a bit of recovery time in Brazil. It was frustrating not to be able to help my team-mates. But those bad times have passed now. Mikel is a really nice guy and a lovely person. As a manager, he is unbelievable. He always tries to help everyone. When I was injured, he was calling me and asking how I am. He is a very good manager, but not only that, a very good person.”
Since returning, Martinelli, along with Bukayo Saka, Ødegaard and Smith Rowe, have quickly offered renewed cause for optimism — both to Arteta on the touchline and the supporters on the terraces. The standing of those four players has grown as star turns Mesut Özil and Aubameyang were ushered out of the club. The young attackers are underpinned by last season’s raft of summer signings at the back, where Arteta bolstered the defence with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White, in addition to Aaron Ramsdale in goal. We discuss one turning point against Chelsea in December 2020, when Arsenal demolished Frank Lampard’s team in the first half and won the match 3-1. All three of Saka, Smith Rowe and Martinelli started and excelled.
Martinelli says: “The Chelsea match was great for us. We know we need to give confidence to the manager to put us on the pitch. If we do well, we know we will play. So it is up to us as players what happens. We are a family. We do not just see it as we go to work and we play some football. It is more than that for us. We are all getting stronger together, on and off the pitch. We try and go for some meals together. In Dubai during the mid-season training camp, we did a whole staff and team barbecue together, which was really nice. All the players are unbelievable to me. I love Emile and Saka; how they play, they are so smart, they read the game so quickly. Honestly, I love playing with them. Ben and Aaron are really nice people and they try and speak to everyone. Ramsdale on the ball is unbelievable, he can put the ball wherever he wants. And Ben — he is so secure, he can dribble, he can play a long ball, he can do whatever he wants with the ball. Both of them are so good for us.”
Does he instinctively make more runs with Ramsdale in the team? Martinelli nods: “We train this in the week. Aaron can do it and I run to give him options. It is like having another (outfield) player on the pitch if the goalkeeper can do that.”
Martinelli also believes his understanding with Ødegaard is improving with every match and training session. We observe two clips; one where he receives an Ødegaard cross to score at Crystal Palace at the end of last season and another where he returns the compliment for Ødegaard to score in the 3-2 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford in December.

Arsenal are tied with Crystal Palace as the match enters injury time at Selhurst Park when Ødegaard collects the ball on the right side, just outside the penalty area. As Ødegaard drops a shoulder to come inside, the image below shows Martinelli with his arm raised requesting the ball…



Impressively, Ødegaard spots the run and this next image shows Martinelli setting off, ready to pounce in the area in behind the Palace defenders, who remain blissfully unaware of the impending peril. Martinelli grins: “I am always thinking the ball is going to come and I can score. In this case, it is only me and Martin who can see that ball is on and that it can happen.”



Ødegaard curls a delicate cross into Martinelli’s path and the forward tucks the finish away. Arsenal win the game 3-1, as Nicolas Pepe goes on to add a third deep into stoppage time. “To play with Martin is easy,” Martinelli adds. “He is like this every day in training.”


Martinelli’s awareness of Ødegaard’s timing and positioning was then underlined in the fixture earlier this season at Old Trafford.
Martinelli receives the ball on the right flank and instantly pulls the ball across the 18-yard box for Ødegaard to score. The Norwegian has ghosted into an area behind Manchester United’s midfielder Fred. Martinelli says: “Martin is an unbelievable player. I wanted him to come back after his loan at the club and we were all very happy when he signed. For this goal, I know Martin is always there in that position in training. He always says, ‘When you go wide, I’ll be at the centre of the box’.”

The more cohesive spirit at Arsenal was best encapsulated by their first-half performance against Manchester City in January, which was perhaps the most authoritative that Arteta’s side have appeared against a Guardiola team. Arsenal were dangerous and cutting in possession but also worked tirelessly against City’s relentless circulation of the ball. Martinelli alone made six interceptions in the first half.
The level of awareness and diligence required is demonstrated by the following situations, where City construct play from the right flank. Bernardo Silva drifts wide and full-back Joao Cancelo seeks to make an underlapping run on Martinelli’s blind side as the left-back Kieran Tierney is encouraged out to the flank.


Martinelli, however, stays smart, tracks the run and slides in to recover the ball for Arsenal. It is, increasingly, typical of the work rate demanded by coaches of their forward players and it perhaps explains why Liverpool manager Klopp appears so taken by Martinelli.
The Athletic directly compared Martinelli’s output when set against divisional rivals in his position. The players chosen as comparisons were Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Sadio Mane, Raphinha, Harvey Barnes, Said Benrahma and Son Heung-Min.

When set against these players per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, Martinelli has the highest success rate when making interceptions (averaging 0.96 per game), further underlining his blend of silk and steel. Leeds’ Raphinha is the only other player of those listed to average higher than 0.6 interceptions per game. Martinelli also ranks second of the 11 players for both his tackling success and his ball recoveries in the opposition’s final third, while he ranks third for duel success.

Martinelli says City are “100 per cent the hardest team to play”. And the toughest individual opponent? He produces an unexpected name. “Actually the guy from Nottingham Forest, Djed Spence, who I played against in the FA Cup. He is very strong, good on the ball, calm and quick. I was surprised; he is a really good player.”
As for City, he says: “You have to be ready to run for 96 minutes against them. They are so good but you know you have to do it for yourself and the team. It is physically and psychologically tiring. You are exhausted, but then you have to regain the ball and make good decisions when you attack. If you are losing against them, they keep the ball between themselves for five minutes if you do not put pressure on the ball. They keep the ball so easily. When you play City, you have to be ready to mark your opponents and to play when you have the ball. Everyone needs to do the right thing for the whole match.”

---

As Martinelli operates from the wide positions, his goals demonstrate a pattern in their movements and execution. On his Premier League debut against West Ham, he scored a crucial equaliser before Arsenal went on to win the game.
In the build-up to the goal, Martinelli shows a cuteness in his movement as the wing-back Sead Kolasinac receives the ball on the left flank. As the ball comes to Kolasinac, Martinelli darts inside, which both distracts the West Ham full-back and catches out Declan Rice in the West Ham midfield.

Kolasinac now has more space on the left flank, helped by Martinelli vacating the area and the Brazilian has also stolen a march on Rice, who cannot recover.
“Now I am behind Rice and it’s a good finish,” Martinelli says. “This was my first Premier League goal and my cousin Vini was there. All my family after the game were texting me, saying congratulations, but they are the same even after I miss a chance or have a bad game. My dad always calls me and tries to understand the things I did in a game.
“Today he is always nice to me, but in the past he was hard when I was kid when I didn’t have a good game. He would say, ‘You have potential and have to improve’ but always nicely. When I was a kid,when I started to play,I didn’t think I would be a footballer. It was just the thing I loved to do, but by the time I was 14, I started to think, ‘I can really do this, I can really be a footballer’.”


Martinelli’s intelligent movement has been a feature of his goals this season. We identify three goals — scored against Newcastle, West Ham and Leeds — in which Martinelli, running off the flanks, finds space between a full-back and centre-back to break in behind and score a goal. When Arsenal played Newcastle in November, Martinelli arrived as a substitute in the 64th minute and within two minutes he doubled Arsenal’s 1-0 lead.
His movement is cunning. With centre-back White in possession, Martinelli looks to create space for Tomiyasu on the right flank, while also unnerving the Newcastle defence by running into a gap between two left-sided defenders.

When Tomiyasu then has the ball, the Japanese defender is able to flight a pinpoint pass over the defence, where Martinelli sprints onto the ball and controls a volley into the goal. Martinelli says: “The manager wants us to do that (run) and it is easy because it makes it hard for the full-back or centre-back to mark you. I put my body in front of the goal, and it is a lot easier (to score) than receiving the ball wide.
“I had come on from the bench against Newcastle. Everyone is like ‘I want to play, I want to play’ but you need to be ready, whether it is one minute, or 45 minutes, or 90 minutes to give your best. To control that volley, it is a really nice goal. You are looking at both the goal and the keeper at the same time.” The Newcastle goal was significant, as Martinelli had started only two Premier League games for Arsenal this season prior to this contribution against Eddie Howe’s side.


In December, Martinelli had goalscoring success from similar movements. When Arsenal played West Ham, the Brazilian’s direct running unnerved Vladimir Coufal and Craig Dawson on the right side of the West Ham defence. He ran through to score.
On this occasion, the creator is Arsenal’s centre forward Lacazette. I ask Martinelli if it is an intentional ploy for Lacazette to drop deep, almost as though he is a No 10, and then have wide players such as Martinelli and Saka sprinting in between defenders. Martinelli says: “He wants the No 9 to drop into midfield, they are almost like a No 10 which means me and Bukayo can run in behind.” He nods when asked whether he believes he would be able to fulfil that same central role if asked to do so by his manager.

Three days after a goal against West Ham, Martinelli struck twice at Leeds. “When I scored this one (below) against Leeds, I was supposed to be running back to defend. I scored the goal. The next day in the meeting, (Arteta’s assistant) Albert Stuivenberg said, ‘You scored a great goal but you were supposed to mark the full-back’. I said, ‘No, sorry!'”

After 45 minutes of conversation, it is time to wrap up the highlights reel. Martinelli’s ambition for Arsenal is clear. He believes they will become, in his words, one of the world’s best teams. As for his personal ambition, hopes of a World Cup place remain. “It would mean a lot. I am not there yet. I want to play and fight for my spot. I will do whatever I need to do. It would be an honour to be there.”

A lot of you will like this one, it's an excellent series but very rarely has Arsenal players. Sadly, I had to cut a lot of the pictures

I don't think it really reads the same without it.

@albakos anything we can do about this? it says 12 limit but only let me post 5 still. There's like 20 pictures too (lol) breaking down his runs etc.

 

[Camron]

Mikel is a really nice guy and a lovely person. As a manager, he is unbelievable. He always tries to help everyone. When I was injured, he was calling me and asking how I am. He is a very good manager, but not only that, a very good person.”