Arsenal must start Gabriel Martinelli against Villarreal in Europa League

Most Arsenal fans remember the club’s 2019/2020 goal of the season which took place in January 2020 at Stamford Bridge. To refresh the memory, it came from a Chelsea corner (taken by Willian of all people). On the counterattack, Gabriel Martinelli ran 67 yards unimpeded, with the young Brazilian showing speed, precision, and exceptional composure. It proved he could play at the highest level.

Martinelli is healthy now and available for selection by Mikel Arteta. That brings up the question of why the manager is not utilizing the 19-year-old with the Gunners’ season hanging by a thread. Arteta was slammed by fans and the media for his decision not to start a striker in Arsenal’s semi-final first leg at Villarreal.

Instead, Martinelli was brought on as a substitute in the 63rd minute, by which point, the Gunners were already down 2-0 and playing with ten men. The Brazilian made a noticeable impact upon his arrival and brought some necessary intensity to the contest during his brief cameo appearance. With the health of strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette still questionable, the hope is that Martinelli will get a start in the all-important second leg at the Emirates. he must.

Arteta’s first full season as Arsenal manager has been challenging, no doubt. The team has underperformed and struggled in almost every facet. If not for the emergence of academy graduates Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka the season has all the scope to be drastically worse.

Arsenal must start Gabriel Martinelli against Villarreal in Europa League semi-final second leg

Now, it’s obvious that Arteta is not afraid to give youth a chance, hence why his management of Gabriel Martinelli in more than just the Premier League so puzzling.

Martinelli truly emerged last season in his debut campaign. He played a role in a number of Arsenal’s Europa League matches, including a brace in a 4-0 win over Standard Liege and a goal versus Vitoria Guimaraes. He was electric. He is electric.

In total, Martinelli scored ten goals in all competitions for Arsenal in 2019/2020 and in doing so he became the first teenager to reach double figures in a season for the club since Nicolas Anelka. He also equaled Ian Wright’s record of scoring four times in his first four starts.

Unfortunately, Martinelli sustained an injury in training in June 2020 and following surgery on his knee, the forward was ruled out until the end of 2020.

Since his return from injury, Martinelli has started just two league matches and been used as a late substitute a number of times, leading to a couple of Arsenal legends recently questioned why Arteta has not given the Brazilian more playing time; especially since the team is currently struggling in the final third.

Martin Keown, who never minces words, told BT Sport he’d been concerned as to why that player is not playing. He then speculated why:

"“Because the manager doesn’t like him. It’s as simple as that,” he said. “I’m not there every day, I’m not on the training ground. When he came into the team, I thought he did a great job. Not only was he making runs down the middle, but he was coming back. He was like a Duracell battery.”"

Ray Parlour also offered his opinion on the subject:

"“I don’t get what’s going on with Martinelli,” he said. “He changed the game for Arsenal, but he must be terrible in training because he never starts! He’s a very exciting player.”"

Arteta and Arsenal were fortunate to leave Spain with an away goal. The overriding sentiment is that the manager needs to utilize the firepower at his disposal in order to keep Arsenal’s European hopes alive. Martinelli is one of those weapons. Play the talent. Trust the talent.