Arsenal: 4 Gabriel Martinelli positives and negatives vs Leeds

As soon as the full-time whistle blew against Aston Villa and attentions turned to Leeds, they also shifted towards Gabriel Martinelli and his expected involvement.

Mikel Arteta has after plenty of time and money arrived at a Premier League starting lineup he and supporters will almost always agree on. There are one or two question marks in midfield, but that’s about it.

After that there are two groups: the ones you bring on off the bench and those who are on it just to fill the numbers. Martinelli finds himself in the former of those categories.

Handed a spot in the team in the 2-0 win over Leeds, the Brazilian went one better than his last start for the club by completing the entire 90 minutes. Arguably the standout attacking player against AFC Wimbledon, he wasn’t on Tuesday, and that’s without much competition.

4 positives and negatives of Gabriel Martinelli’s performance in the 2-0 win over Leeds as Arsenal forward comes under criticism

Selecting a front three of Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah and Martinelli, on this occasion the 20-year-old was out on the left, the position he’s favoured aside from centre-forward, and it left him one-on-one with Leeds’ debutant Cody Drameh.

It was a huge game for him. The biggest victim of no European football this term, aside from cup competitions he’s been limited to just ten Premier League minutes across two matches following the two starts he was handed amid an early injury and illness crisis.

The chances will not come around as often as he would like, nor as often as he needs for his development. There is only so much that can be achieved on the training pitch that transfers into competitive matches.

He’s in a tough spot, and it showed in his display. But, alas, it wasn’t all bad. There were parts of his game that sung while other fell flat. Saving the best for last, here is what didn’t come off for him.

1. Martinelli Has to Get His Head Up

A right footer playing out on the left is going to want to come inside onto his preferred foot. There will be drives to the byline when the opportunity arises, but the overriding tendency is to come inside.

When said player does that there are two options: take the shot on or pass the ball. Martinelli on almost every occasion against Leeds wasted threatening passages by either taking the shot on or trying to fashion on.

He does not get his head up enough. By the time he does opportunities are squandered.

The passes are there, options both simple and slightly trickier, but it’s plain to see that this is someone desperate for the moment; a monkey off his back and a goal to see the stadium up and applauding him. Not necessarily selfish by the way of self-indulged, there is such a will to be the final act that he’s losing sight of the chapters before that.

This is someone yearning for minutes. But those moments aren’t only successful if he’s on the scoresheet. The end result reflects more flatteringly on him but this desire for immediate success is limiting his output. In bypassing the connections and combinations needed for fluid attacks he’s distancing himself further from the first team.

Being direct is one of his most endearing traits. Fans love it and the chaotic unstructured play it brings can have positive repercussions. There just has to be a balance, one his over exuberance is causing to be unstable.

Continued…