Gabriel Martinelli: Top Tear

[blaze_of_glory]

football.london understands that Martinelli has been taking individual sessions - a non-compulsory option - to improve his shooting with Arteta holding the view that he has the potential to play as a centre forward in the long-term

Guardiola has already provided the answer to unlocking Martinelli's potential

Martinelli has made just five Premier League appearances since returning from injury but it's clear that Mikel Arteta has a long-term plan for him

www.football.london

Chris Wheatley watching the same vids we are and then writing this

 

[Big Poppa]

Eh? So Arteta, an outspoken fan of players who play with high intensity and press a lot, wants Martinelli to have less of that, so that he can catch teams by surprise? (I'm not even sure how that works in your mind, btw, if you just chase down the ball and press some of the time, teams get surprised when you do press? I suppose you mean more save energy to be in good positions when we get the ball, but even then, it seems weird to think this is what Arteta is working on with him, much less be so certain of it so to say 'I don't necessarily agree with it').

In short, I don't think this is what Arteta is managing with him. I think it's basically more like, we've got a lot of options in the forward positions, we are struggling to get games for Pepe who is 25 and in rather good form, hence Martinelli, at 19, is the odd man out. What he's managing is no doubt his overall game, much as he would've with Sterling or Sané, as much as time allows him, given that he's the head coach not the assistant as he was before.

Both could be true. It's not about pressing more or less per se, it's about pressing at the right moments.

I can't remember where the interview is, but Arteta was asked about what changes were made after Pep's first season and he talked specifically about how he coached guys like Sterling to run less, but be more intentional with their running, so they could read the game better and understand their opponents.

 

[boonthegoon]

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Welcome back!

 

[Bagels]

Welcome back!

Thanks

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

Looks fit, sharp abd hungry. Lovely to see him again

 

[mirrorstare]

Private sessions of crying from minimal contact worked out like a charm.

Hopefully he gets more minutes but this was the match for it and barely got 10, sad stuff.

 

[Riou]

Masterful sub by my boy Tets!

 

[Macho]

Masterful sub by my boy Tets!

Think Tet's buckled under the pressure from his Athletic journalist mates and threw them a bone. Ornstein with his "funny that he's not in the side" stuff.

 

[Dutch D]

Shame he only got 10minutes. Not the way too integrate your biggest talents.

Looked hungry and provided some dangerous moments. Excited to see more of him again, hopefully.

 

[truth_hurts]

Hopefully did enough tonight to play again before September.

 

[Riou]

Think Tet's buckled under the pressure from his Athletic journalist mates and threw them a bone. Ornstein with his "funny that he's not in the side" stuff.

Mikel, giving his interview to The Athletic about tonights match...

 

[HaffBR]

He is just a kid, needs to learn what patience means... and he is just coming from injuries, if he wants more minutes better take his chances and step-up like the others sooner than later.

 

[AbouCuéllar]

If ESR is a bit tired from last weekend and tonight I kinda feel like he's our best option at LW? Between him, Willian, and Pepe I'd go with Gabi.

 

[EmeryCouldnt]

He is just a kid, needs to learn what patience means... and he is just coming from injuries, if he wants more minutes better take his chances and step-up like the others sooner than later.

He has!!! Are you kidding? Even Arteta admits it.

 

[Pop Tart]

He is just a kid, needs to learn what patience means... and he is just coming from injuries, if he wants more minutes better take his chances and step-up like the others sooner than later.

How can he take chances if the gaffer is not picking him and leaving him out of matchday squad altogether ?Been back ages. Smith rowe is a kid and has been given chance, was injured at start of season. Martinelli also took his chances before his injury. So your point makes no sense.

 

[Macho]

Spoiler: Martinelli uses cameo to stake a claim, for following Saka, Ødegaard and Smith-Rowe

There is a reason why the clamour for Gabriel Martinelli across Arsenal-land has been amplified over the weeks of his absence.

That reason manifested itself in a fully-charged run at Olympiakos shortly after coming on for his first taste of senior football in a month. There is a very specific type of determination about the way he chases, full pelt, as if the volume is turned up to 11. Off he went with that thrilling verve, the only way he knows how.

Martinelli yanked Arsenal up the pitch, burst past his man, and sent a punchy left foot pass across goal to pick out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It wasn’t a night for the reinstated captain so the moment passed. But it felt like an important marker for Martinelli. It was a reminder of what the young Brazilian can bring to the party. The way he seized his minutes begged the question as to why there were not some more.

Mikel Arteta did not hold back after the match when he lamented the general poverty of Arsenal’s performance against Olympiakos. In turning a reasonably advantageous situation into a night of unnecessary jitters, it underlined how Arsenal really must stop being inefficient if they want to progress further in the competition that is holding their season together. With the ball, Arteta said, his team were “nowhere near” the standards they set themselves.

Of course Arsenal will study the tape and analyse the data but there was one big element to the game plan which didn’t work. There was a kind of anti-click based on the selection of Dani Ceballos in an unorthodox No 10 position. The Spaniard, who is fond of a flick or a trick, is not renowned for his speed — either of thought or motion. He tends to like an extra touch or another turn.

All the cohesion and balance that has begun to take shape recently with the use of three young tyros with quick feet and sharp minds behind the striker dispersed. Where Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe have a more natural inclination towards the energy of pressing, the instinct of passing and moving, adding fluency and moments of invention, Arsenal looked as if the glue in the team suddenly didn’t have any stick.

The role did not seem to suit Ceballos on the night and his troubles were emphasised by another part in a goal concession. Receiving the ball in a promising situation in the attacking third he was brushed off the ball with ease and from there Olympiakos sprung swiftly from one end of the pitch to the other to forge a now customary goal for Youssef El-Arabi.

All Arsenal’s Europa League knockout games have featured dopey, costly moments leading to opposition goals, and Ceballos looked downcast to be substituted almost immediately after this latest one.

It was an experiment which in the grand scheme of things doesn’t have a lasting impact, because Arsenal are through to the Europa League quarter-finals. But Arteta might wonder if he could have tried an alternative set-up, with Smith Rowe granted a return to his favoured No 10 role and Martinelli given licence to raid from the left for longer than the handful of late minutes he was given.

Arteta has been reluctant to use him much lately. He has been full of praise for Martinelli’s work on the training ground but added that patience was required. The comeback from a serious knee injury sustained last summer has been arduous and prolonged. The nod from his manager against Olympiakos came with just nine minutes to impress.

In that short time he seized the initiative. Soon after coming on, one of those trademark runs was interrupted by Ousseynou Ba, who could only stop the 19-year-old with an elbow which ended up earning him a red card. Then came the terrific burst to set up Aubemayeng for a double chance. There were also a few cleverly-timed runs towards goal which promised much but were not found by a usable pass. If he keeps getting minutes and keeps making those runs he will be picking up shots, goals and assists. He will do damage.

The aim for Martinelli for the duration of this season has to be turning the trio of trusted youngsters aiding the attack into a quartet. He has the qualities to be an option, competing for minutes alongside Saka, Ødegaard and Smith Rowe. These are players who are changing the complexion of the way Arsenal play and Martinelli certainly has the attributes to be part of that band. There is competition from more experienced players but the youth getting regular game time have proved that does not need to be a barrier in this team.

Arsenal had plenty of opportunities to not lose this match — Aubameyang notably had several, Nicolas Pepe’s finishing was off-key, and Ødegaard reacted to spooning one chance over the bar by putting his head in his hands. There were no goals to be had here but over the course of the tie they had enough to lean on. It is noticeable Arsenal are trying to be less reliant on Aubameyang, with Kieran Tierney, David Luiz, Gabriel, Pepe, Mohamed Elneny, Ødegaard, Saka and Alexandre Lacazette all scoring in the last month.

Martinelli, who scored an eye-catching number of goals in his breakthrough year last season, will be anxious to get back on the scoresheet as soon as possible.

He reappeared in the team back in December but has been used sparingly, and it felt ominous when he was left out of the squad altogether for last weekend’s win over Tottenham. This cameo emphasised how more chances will be welcome.

Martinelli uses cameo to stake claim for following Saka, Ødegaard and Smith Rowe
https://theathletic.com/2462297/202...rd-and-smith-rowe/?source=user_shared_article

 

[Riou]

He should be more involved, even with the injury worries, feel he should be getting more game time.

Auba/Laca/Saka/ESR/Ødegaard/Pepe/Gabby ...that's a great bunch to pick from in our attacking positions, the fact Willian has played as much as he has is super annoying

 

[Tumblin'Dice]

He is just a kid, needs to learn what patience means... and he is just coming from injuries, if he wants more minutes better take his chances and step-up like the others sooner than later.

 

[Oxeki]

He is just a kid, needs to learn what patience means... and he is just coming from injuries, if he wants more minutes better take his chances and step-up like the others sooner than later.

Like Willian who was given chance after chance despite playing shìte