Mikel Arteta simply can’t ignore Arsenal player who completed just three passes vs Man United

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Mikel Arteta got a lot of pointers from Arsenal’s opening day win over Manchester United.

The opening day of the season represented a top result and a poor performance from Arsenal. 

Though the Gunners beat Man United 1-0 away from home, the game was one that Arteta won’t look back on too fondly. 

In terms of game management, Arsenal’s maturity shone through; however, without set-pieces, the squad’s attacking threat looked weaker than ever.

• READ MORE: Step aside David Raya, Wayne Rooney says two other Arsenal players were ‘excellent’ against Man United

Mikel Arteta has to drop Gabriel Martinelli

Riccardo Calafiori was the match winner, scoring from a corner in the 13th minute of play.

The Italian’s header just in front of the goal line was one of just three shots on target Arsenal had in 90 minutes.

It was no surprise to see Viktor Gyokeres struggle on his Premier League debut, as the service just wasn’t there.

Though Gyokeres got a lot of unfair criticism after the game, so did Arsenal’s wingers, who were slammed by Gary Neville for simply not being good enough.

Though Bukayo Saka did show signs of wanting to threaten United’s back line, Gabriel Martinelli was largely anonymous. 

Before being hooked after an hour, Martinelli completed only three passes and covered only 0.9km more than goalkeeper David Raya.

Being a pace-ridden winger, Arsenal expected their Brazilian forward to at the very least test his marker, but the 24-year-old was unable to, which unfortunately, was to be expected. 

Martinelli had a really poor pre-season, carrying his form on from the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, with his progression appearing to be rather stagnant.

Even when the game was passing him by, there didn’t seem to be any urgency from the forward to get himself into the contest, as reflected by the mere 14 touches he had in an hour.

All eyes will be on how Arteta will react to another Martinelli disasterclass, particularly with competition waiting in the wings. 

Arsenal’s wingers sent Andrea Berta a message vs Man United

Arsenal’s imbalance on the left was spotted against United, with the wide areas a real problem for Arteta to address.

Sporting director Andrea Berta will surely be looking at how he can strengthen Arteta’s squad before the transfer window closes, as there was more than just Martinelli to worry about at Old Trafford.

Saka was poor, as was Martinelli’s replacement, Noni Madueke, with the trio’s lack of creativity only detrimental to Gyokeres.

Spending £64m on the Swedish talisman was only the start for Arsenal, with it clearer than ever that at least one more attacking signing is needed.