Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw against Brentford at the Emirates this afternoon, and Mikel Arteta wasn’t too impressed with what Gabriel Martinelli did at one moment in the game.
After the defeat at Everton last week, all of us hoped to see a response from the Gunners. To be fair, we started the game well and dominated possession, but we just couldn’t break the Bees down.
Arsenal boss Arteta, unsurprisingly, was disappointed at the end.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wasn’t happy with Gabriel Martinelli’s failed flick attempt
Arteta went with the same team that started against Everton last week.
Martinelli started on the left flank, and once again, he didn’t get any help in terms of overlaps from Oleksandr Zinchenko throughout the game.
The Brazilian, however, still kept going. He tried to come inside, got on the ball often and tried to have an impact. That’s really commendable, but there was one moment where he almost made a costly error.
Martinelli received the ball with his back to goal in our own half and instead of playing it safe and passing to a teammate, he tried an outrageous flick, and that didn’t come off.
Brentford couldn’t capitalise on the mistake and we survived, but journalist Mark Mann-Bryans revealed on Twitter that Arteta was far from happy with what the 21-year-old did.
“Martinelli losing the ball trying a neat flick in his own half. Safe to say Arteta was not too pleased,” he tweeted.
The Insider’s View:
Martinelli looks tired, doesn’t he?
He just doesn’t look like the player he was in the first half of the season. Fatigue may well be an issue, while Gabriel Jesus’ absence is another factor as the two Brazilians formed a phenomenal partnership. The same hasn’t been replicated with Eddie Nketiah.
Arteta has a decision to make now ahead of the game against Manchester City. Leandro Trossard showed his class when he came on today, and we’re sure he’ll be gunning for a start.
Starting the Belgian won’t be a bad idea at all, and this is nothing against Martinelli, who is still one of our best players.
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