After a lacklustre season for Arsenal and not much game time for Brazil in the Copa America, Gabriel Martinelli has a lot to prove in this upcoming season. In the 22/23 Premier League season, Gabriel bagged 15 goals and 5 assists to go with them. With many fans believing that it was a trampoline season to grow from he then dropped to just 6 goals and 4 assists in the season just gone.
But why was this and how can this upcoming campaign see a change in fortune and form?
I, first of all, have to say that Gabriel Martinelli brings much more than goals and assists to the team in terms of unrelenting work rate and pure pace in behind where we have lacked that in most of the rest of the squad. I am a huge fan of him as a player and feel like the season has just gone he had a very difficult role to play and I have a few reasons why.
Replacing Granit Xhaka
The point has been brought up aplenty but the natural Xhaka replacement was always going to be a tough one to find straight away. Under Arteta, he was a very unique player and seemed to finally be made into what he always had been, a combative, tempo controller, box-to-box midfielder.
But how did he help Gabriel Martinelli?
To answer that you have to look at the team he has most recently been playing in. There was a lot more rotation in that left-sided midfield role seeing Havertz start the season there after Partey was moved to right back for the first couple of games of the season.
It was a slow(ish) start to the campaign judging from the previous, changes were quickly made to see Viera and also Trossard be giving fleeting chances only for Rice to be the main figure there with Jorginho covering Declan’s role as the 6.
Declan Rice although very capable and very impressive in this role didn’t strike up the natural relationship with Gabriel Martinelli, this may be due to him playing a more central role and having more defensive responsibilities than Xhaka did. This, to me, was seemingly to cover Jorginho’s lack of physicality.
The next question is, will this relationship develop with seasons to come?
It’s a tough one to answer, for me they are not naturally suited, Gabriel Martinelli loves to be put one-on-one with his fullback a sight that was sorely missed for a large part of last season.
I think this could partly be due to having a right-footer playing on the left side it is more natural for him to be playing the ball inside rather than out. Both players have more than enough ability to make it work but with talks of another midfielder being signed this summer will Rice stay in that role or move back to his more defensive role?
Left Back Role
In the ever-changing landscape of football is it that much of a surprise that we’re now seeing four centre-backs being played across the back line, maybe not. Is it a surprise that Pep introduced it, very much yes.
Arsenal’s defensive stability was simply outstanding throughout the season and there’s not much to argue against how we lined up for the vast majority of the season. It looked in the beginning as though Timber was to be the new staple left back until his unfortunate long-term injury and with Zinchenko’s heavy downturn in form, we saw Kiwior get his chance.
Kiwior performed well, I am not doubting that but compared to the previous two named his technical ability is inferior. As a winger your wingman (pardon the pun) will seemingly always be your fullback, but in Arteta’s Arsenal left side this hasn’t been the case. Even in 22/23, Zinchenko played very much an inverted role but this seemed to free up Xhaka to combine plenty more than what I previously mentioned with Rice in 23/24.
Will the role change?
In short, I don’t think so.
Riccardo Calafiori’s signing is certainly an upgrade on Kiwior but as a full-back, he is very much in a similar mould. I think we struck gold with Ben White becoming a fully-fledged overlapping full-back from the right after starting as a centre-back. Can lightning strikes twice, it’d be very lucky. But maybe I’m speaking too quickly about Califiori and he can become an important player for us not just in the defensive third but going forward too.
Right Sided Dominance
When you’ve got two of the best players in the premier league on the right why wouldn’t you focus on that side? Odegaard and Saka have struck up an undeniable chemistry in the last few years, one that I don’t want to be broken up. It’s completely fair to think Odegaard should be tried on the left side of the midfield it feels like it would be natural, but when you see the clear patterns of play that have been put together through years on the training pitch it’s when of the most reliable and consistent pieces of Arsenal’s play.
Is there a debate about changing the focus of the attack?
If there is it’s a tough one to make, Arteta has created balance in imbalance with how Arsenal plays.
As a counterpoint, how can this style of play create more openings on the left-hand side for Gabriel Martinelli?
Rice has commented on how Arteta is not a fan of switch passes across the field, this can be seen as his number dramatically decreased from his move from West Ham to Arsenal. Although there must be some clear reason behind this a player like Martinelli who is left isolated sometimes on the left side could benefit from more of these, hopefully leaving him with space and time to get one-on-one with the opposition full-back.
In summary
Gabriel Martinelli is a gifted footballer and at 23 should have his best days very much ahead of him. Whether people want to put it down to injury problems, system breakdowns or just burnout he must hope to pick up his form in the upcoming system, with rumours of a new winger being eyed up to join it could be make or break for him at Arsenal. I for one hope it’s made.
