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‘Struggling’… TalkSPORT pundit claims 22-year-old Arsenal player is nowhere near his best
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have enjoyed a strong start to the season, and yet there is the feeling that several players are still underperforming.
If Arteta’s team beat West Ham United tonight they’ll return to the top of the Premier League, and yet no Arsenal player has scored more than five goals in their 18 games.
It’s a peculiar one.
Some will call it a team effort, and some will say that the Arsenal squad are still yet to reach their peak levels.
And when speaking on this morning, Dean Saunders was quite concerned about one of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal forwards this season.
Saunders thought teams had now worked out how to defend against Gabriel Martinelli, in a similar fashion to Bukayo Saka.
Saunders said: “I’ve got a sneaky feeling they are going to win the league. I like the look of them.
“They have changed [Granit] Xhaka for [Kai] Havertz, he changed the goalkeeper and will probably spend again now.
“If you look at the performances of the players six months on from nearly winning the league last year. I would say Saka is finding it more difficult than he did last season.
“Teams are working it out, don’t let him come inside. [Gabriel] Martinelli is struggling at times because people are watching him every week.
“[Gabriel] Jesus is just world class for me but there is obviously a finger being pointed at him, whether he gets enough goals.
“Eddie [Nketiah] has done well. Declan Rice, Rolls Royce, has made a difference. [Martin] Odegaard is a genius.”
Pundit thinks Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli is struggling for Mikel Arteta this season
Of course, this criticism or observation is in the context of Arsenal’s now very high standards.
In another breath, Saunders would probably still point out that Martinelli is a brilliant player, just one going through a period of adaptation.
That being said, it’s not impossible to think Martinelli may be on the bench for Arsenal tonight.
Leandro Trossard hasn’t had a lot of Arsenal opportunities under Mikel Arteta this season, and could be given the nod.
Similarly, Emile Smith Rowe could earn a surprise recall to the XI.
It’s certainly not a game that Arsenal will take lightly, however, changes do make sense given how congested the schedule has become.
It would be very harsh to suggest that Martinelli deserves to be dropped – he’s still one of Arsenal’s most important players.
However, there is merit to Saunders’ words, the winger is having a rare tough period.
But as he showed at Anfield, Martinelli can still offer this Arsenal side so much this season even when not among the goals.