If Arsenal ever needed an indication that Andrea Berta needs to sign a new winger, Gabriel Martinelli’s miss against Brentford was it.
Arsenal didn’t exactly deserve to win against the Bees, who showed exactly why they’ve only lost twice at the Gtech Community Stadium all season.
Some of Mikel Arteta’s players had nights to forget, including Eberechi Eze, who was awful against Brentford, which explained why he was taken off at half-time.
Arsenal’s attack has struggled a lot this season, and Eze wasn’t the only one with faults against Brentford, as Martinelli missed a glaring chance to win the game.
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Gabriel Martinelli’s miss against Brentford proved who Andrea Berta’s next transfer target must be
Martinelli is so inconsistent, as Arsenal fans don’t know which version of the Brazilian they will see on each matchday.
Introduced from the bench in the 81st minute, Arteta relied on the winger to be a finisher and win the game for Arsenal, and he almost did.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Jurrien Timber found Martinelli on the counter, but the 24-year-old took too long on the ball and was closed down by Caoimhin Kelleher.
It was a match-winning moment for Arsenal, but Martinelli couldn’t take it, making it clearer than ever that Andrea Berta must replace the Brazil international in the summer.
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It may seem like a reactionary comment, but far too many times has Martinelli shown that he’s unreliable in attack, and the same applies to Arsenal’s other wingers.
Arteta simply doesn’t have world-class talent on the flanks in his current squad, aside from Bukayo Saka, but even he is having a poor season.
Martinelli failed to produce a match-winning moment when Arsenal needed it most, and as a result, the signal for Berta to sign a winger in the summer couldn’t be louder.
Mikel Arteta reacted to Martinelli’s miss
Reporting for Sky Sports, journalist Sam Blitz reported on the missed chance as it unfolded at the Gtech Community Stadium.
“Moments. Moments. Moments. Martinelli HAS to score that. He’s completely through,” he said.
The journalist’s take wasn’t too far from Arteta’s, as the Arsenal manager called Martinelli out at full-time.
What do you think Mikel Arteta said to Gabriel Martinelli behind the scenes after his miss vs Brentford?
“We had a massive chance, one-v-one with Gabriel Martinelli, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Arteta told TNT Sports.
It’s those big moments that can define title races, so it’s a huge worry that Arsenal don’t seem to have the players in their ranks to produce them right now.
Martinelli must train harder than ever to improve his finishing, as based on his miss against Brentford, there’s no sign of the Brazilian adding to his single Premier League goal this season.
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