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Ian Wright says Gabriel Martinelli is so much better when £40m Arsenal man plays
Gabriel Martinelli put in one of his best performances of the season at the weekend against Chelsea.
Martinelli was amongst the goals at Stamford Bridge, and, unfortunately, this sort of showing was something of a surprise.
Indeed, Martinelli hasn’t been playing to that standard for most of this season.
Martinelli has been criticised for his showings this term, but Gary Neville was full of praise for the winger on Sunday.
Speaking on the Kelly and Wrighty Show, Ian Wright has been discussing Martinelli’s struggles so far this season, and he notes that the winger seems to play a lot better when Riccardo Calafiori is on the pitch.
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Gabriel Martinelli plays better with Riccardo Calafiori
Wright shared his verdict on Martinelli and his current form.
The pundit says that the man’s arrival has had a positive impact on the Brazilian’s game, hailing the way the two players link up.
“The thing before the injury and when Calafiori came in we saw how he activated Martinelli. People started to worry about him. Fans were getting a bit frustrated. I started to feel for him,” Wright said.
“When Calafiori is playing he actually activates him better, he can come inside, Calafiori goes outside, he can play off him. We all know that on Odegaard and Saka’s side, when that is working, that’s what they do.
Martinelli record with Calafiori
Wright says that Martinelli is better with Calafiori in the same team, and the stats certainly back that idea up.
| Gabriel Martinelli record when Riccardo Calafiori is playing | Gabriel Martinelli record without Riccardo Calafiori | |
| Games | 8 | 6 |
| Goals | 2 | 1 |
| Assists | 3 | 0 |
As you can see, Martinelli is much more deadly when he has Calafiori supporting him behind.
Interestingly, this isn’t a new trend.
Martinelli’s form has often been dependent on who is behind him, and prior to being unlocked by Calafiori, Martinelli was reliant on Granit Xhaka.
Martinelli’s best season for Arsenal was Xhaka’s final season at the club, and Michael Owen stated last year that Martinelli was really missing Xhaka.
“I think it’s fair to say that Martinelli is struggling. Arsenal like to attack down the right more, and another big thing in this Arsenal team is that they’ve lost a player in Granit Xhaka who fed Martinelli a lot of the balls,” Owen said.
“We have some clips here just to show the fact that Martinelli is really missing him. Xhaka always looked for Martinelli with these through balls. As soon as Xhaka gets the ball, Martinelli came alive, they had that link-up.”
Unfortunately, Calafiori has been out injured recently so this partnership has been put on hold, but don’t be surprised if Martinelli steps things up once Calafiori is back from injury.