Gabriel Martinelli was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons as Liverpool held Arsenal to a goalless draw at The Emirates last night.
Martinelli was branded a disgrace by Roy Keane as pundits and former pros weighed in on the Brazilian trying to roll Connor Bradley from the field while seriously injured.
Luckily for Arsenal, Martinelli is not expected to face any further action from the FA or Premier League, with Antony Taylor’s yellow card being the right call on the night.
If you could make one pundit stop talking about Arsenal, who would you choose and why?
Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher or someone else?
Nevertheless, Martinelli has opened the door for criticism and after his actions last night, even Ian Wright has been forced to be honest about the incident.
Ian Wright disappointed with Gabriel Martinelli for Liverpool incident
As we all know, Ian Wright is normally the first to defend Arsenal’s players.
Wright has often jumped to the defence of many a Gunners star down the years and he’s usually very good at giving balance while defending the club.
On this occasion, though, despite defending Martinelli due to the minute of the game, even Wright has criticised the Arsenal forward.
Speaking for Premier League Productions about the incident involving Bradley, Gunners legend Wright was quick to try and speak up for Martinelli.
However, like most pundits, Wright has also lamented the Brazilian’s behaviour.
“I’m sure, look I know Gabriel Martinelli and I know that he’s not a mean-spirited person. The fact is probably, it’s the latter stage of the game, he feels like they’re under pressure trying to win the game,” Wright commented.
“But that’s out of order. Absolutely. There’s no excuse for that.”
Mikel Arteta needs to drop Gabriel Martinelli to make a stand
Take the emotion out of the situation and take the fact it was the last minute of the game away and strip it back for what it was, and this was terrible behaviour from Martinelli.
Yes, it was heated and as we know, some players can over-egg injuries.
But as Roy Keane stated, Martinelli is hardly a saint when it comes to staying down and everyone in the stadium – barring Martinelli it seemed – could see Bradley was properly hurt.
If you were Conor Bradley, how would you respond to this apology from Gabriel Martinelli?
Mikel Arteta now needs to take a stance on this behaviour and ultimately, take Martinelli out of the squad.
Yes, it might seem extreme but Arsenal have fallen foul in previous seasons due to ill discipline and they cannot afford it again.
Ultimately, Martinelli needs to learn a lesson and quickly.
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