Why Arsenal must drop Aubameyang and start Martinelli

Gabriel Martinelli Must Start at Centre-Forward Against Everton

There can be no room for passengers. Aubameyang has never fit that term more than he is now; the team is carrying him just as he’s holding the rest back. It should more closely resemble the other way around.

But let’s not kid ourselves, the options are striker are mostly poor.

Eddie Nketiah just is not it, Alexandre Lacazette has been moved further away from goal since he can’t score, and Martinelli is a inside forward. There is a lot of belief in him to be a striker among the fanbase, although this writer sees him at his best on the left.

However, nobody can confidently claim that Martinelli in the No. 9 role can be any worse than what this team is currently experiencing. Aubameyang is missing a gluttony of presentable chances. Put Martinelli in those positions and you’d be backing him to score.

Whether he has the nous to be there is a different matter. It isn’t as binary as stating that ‘Martinelli would have scored that’, as positionally he could have been somewhere else entirely.

He does deserve to start though, or at least be given 30 or so minutes far more regularly. The issue is that if fit both Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have to play. Therefore, the only reasonable place for him to play is through the middle in place of Aubameyang.

It’s worth giving a go. Opposition sides won’t expect it, and his constant running in behind and engagement with his defender is the level of proactivity that the side isn’t getting with Aubameyang. The key difference is that Martinelli is always doing something even when he isn’t doing anything.

Both will press like monsters and look engaged, but in terms of actually impacting the game and disrupting defences, Martinelli will provide a different string to the attacking bow.

Just try it out. It’s not like some kind of Premier League free hit decision where if Arsenal lose it doesn’t matter. Of course not. Everton are in such atrocious shape and Martinelli has such a fire in his belly that this has the scope to improve Arsenal. Nobody is giving up on the game, it’s a decision to try and win the game.

Against a beleaguered Toffees side, it’s more than worth exploring.