Arsenal legend, Ian Wright has given his two cents after Arsenal lost to Fulham and dropped to fourth place in their title race on Sunday.
He also gave his opinion on the performance of Arsenal’s winger Gabriel Martinelli
The Brazilian has had a worrying start to the 2023/24 campaign by his standards, having only scored two goals in 17 Premier League appearances so far this season.
Ian Wright thinks Mikel Arteta is failing to play to Gabriel Martinelli’s strengths. According to him, the winger should be involved in the build-up play instead.
Ian Wright on Gabriel Martinelli: “You look at our build-up play, and it’s very Saka-orientated. Odegaard – Saka, Odegaard – Saka. And when you look at Martinelli, especially earlier on when he was doing what he was doing. He was torching people.
“I would love to see at some stage Mikel find the same kind of service to him as quickly as they possibly can because he is somebody that wants to go past on the outside or the inside.
“If Martinelli gets the ball and there’s two behind, Martinelli, we know that he will try to take them on, but on the main, he will come back and pass it back.
“I hate to see Martinelli going back the other way because the ball has not got there quick enough. Those are the things that I am thinking we have to be quicker in getting the ball to him.”
It’s not just Gabriel Martinelli who is struggling in front of goal. None of Arsenal’s attackers have managed to score over five Premier League goals this season. And the league is already halfway through the new campaign.
Eddie Nketiah is the Gunners’ top scorer with five league goals.