caughtoffside
·9 December 2024
caughtoffside
·9 December 2024
I’m not as concerned as others seem to be about Gabriel Martinelli at the moment.
Yes, it was a mistake for him to get caught offside in the build up to the late disallowed goal. He should have done more to hold his line given he was looking across the pitch.
But the Fulham defenders deserve credit as well. They stepped up just at the right time and that also led to Martinelli being caught offside.
I actually thought he was bright when he came on and Arsenal looked much more of a threat. They had a balance to their attack which was missing before he was introduced.
I feel Martinelli just seems to be getting some unfair criticism at the moment. Could he offer more at times? Yes, undoubtedly. Could his end product be better? Again, yes. But he’s not the biggest problem at Arsenal right now.
Could Nico Williams be an ideal replacement for Gabriel Martinelli? (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce, Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Having said that, I do feel the left wing is an area where Arsenal could improve and the fact that the club have chased Nico Williams and Mykhailo Mudryk in recent transfer windows suggest they agree.
I’m not saying that Arsenal need to move Martinelli on. I still think he has a big part to play in this squad going forward, but it’s pretty clear that another option on that side would be really beneficial in terms of the attack.