Arsenal: 3 benefits of Gabriel Martinelli’s red card

Arsenal have got 2022 off to a flying start as their bid to record the most red cards in a calendar year has seen them rack up a commendable four in just six short matches.

Mikel Arteta has come in and set his stall out early: the awards this club should be winning are the one that nobody else wants. Start small, finish big.

If only, eh?

This seemingly endless spate of red cards saw Gabriel Martinelli to become the latest in a long line of incredibly dumb Arsenal players to get himself sent off. We love him, we love them all, but there is a genuine stupidity problem within this group.

Arsenal: 3 benefits of Gabriel Martinelli’s red card against Wolves in the Premier League ahead of Brentford visit at the Emirates Stadium

It was one of the more bizarre sending offs we’re likely to ever see, and one that isn’t set to happen again for quite some time: Michael Oliver waved play on for a foul committed by Martinelli, only for the Brazilian to commit another foul in the same sequence and be brandished a yellow card for each.

As remarkable as it may have been, can anyone really complain? The argument that he didn’t know he was on a yellow for the advantage doesn’t have legs because it was as clear as day that it was a yellow card foul. If he didn’t know that then it shows unbelievable naivety.

Arsenal held on though, so all is well, right? Well not exactly, since Martinelli has been one of the better players in the squad over recent months and his actions at Molineux mean that he will miss the upcoming home match against Brentford.

Arteta insisted every game between now and the end of the season is a cup final, so losing Martinelli is, of course, not positive. But, considering it has now happened, are there any benefits we can draw of it as a result? It’s worth exploring.

1. Emile Smith Rowe Will Come Back Into the Team

Here comes the obvious klaxon.

With no Martinelli to select from it quite clearly means that Emile Smith Rowe will come back into the fold, someone who has only started one Premier League game for Arsenal in the past eight top-flight matches, and thus has been unable to find fluency in the side on account of his teammate’s brilliance.

The Brazilian has deserved his place in the team and just like he capitalised on Smith Rowe’s previous injury absence, it’s the Hale Ender’s moment to remind everyone just how superb he is.

Nobody really needs reminding though, do they? He is the top scorer at the club, and was on course to romp home with Player of the Season having put in excellent outings regularly and made the No. 10 shirt look right at home on his back.

When he has played, barring that remarkable scoring run off the bench in December, he’s looked off the pace physically, which stemmed from niggling injury issues he had and a lack of regular minutes.

Set to be back out on the left again for the visit of the Bees, his best position, there are no huge concerns over Martinelli missing out for that exact reason.

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2. Kieran Tierney Has Grass to Run Into

Kieran Tierney has slowly been building his form back up since Nuno Tavares surprisingly and deservedly usurped him in the starting lineup earlier in the season.

Starting in the defeat at Goodison Park, he then went on a run of three assists and a goal in his following six matches, a solid return for the left-back considering form had evaded him throughout the season up until that point.

Peculiarly, even though he’s contributed at the top end of the pitch with Martinelli in front of him, when Smith Rowe lines up in the wide left position he is actually given more freedom to overlap into attacking areas where he’s at his most dangerous.

Martinelli hugs the touchline far more than Smith Rowe does, with the latter preferring to drift into the half-spaces and build triangles with his full-back, and it’s those position where Tierney’s driving runs and crosses provide their biggest threat.

Where the Scot receives the ball is so important. He still gets beyond his man to deliver crosses with Martinelli in the side – the pair do partner well – but with someone drifting infield he can receive the ball with more grass to run into. Assuming possession effectively with his back to goal results in passes back infield or back to Gabriel. The options to attack are greater when Tierney himself can run the touchline.

How the dynamic between Tierney and Smith Rowe picks up against the Bees will make for interesting viewing.

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3. The Arsenal Team Gets a Wake Up Call

It can’t be overstated just how worrying it is that this team reduces themselves to ten men this often. It is not normal. At all. There are mass brawls in South American football matches that see fewer red cards.

Those who’ve been sent off for Arsenal more than once include Granit Xhaka and David Luiz, who both saw red three times apiece. Their dismissals won’t have caused much discussion because of the individuals involved.

Other members of the group have been sent off once since the manager came in – Pepe, Nketiah, Partey, Aubameyang, Leno, Ceballos – but perhaps seeing someone like Martinelli, this 20 year old with the world at his feet, lose his head in the way he did will impact the group more than the rest.

Arguing against whether he deserved two yellows or not, there was no denying that he saw red in that ten second spell. He intentionally committed those two fouls. The senior players in the group have to look around and ask whether they are the ones manufacturing this. Culture can be positive and negative.

Someone as young and presumably impressionable as Martinelli has to be guided the right way. If him being sent off for two dumb fouls in quick succession had anything to do with the actions of his teammates on previous occasions, then serious conversations have to be had. There is an unavoidable composure lacking in many of these players.

On this occasion it didn’t cost Arsenal. Fortunately.

Maybe, though, this can finally be the wake up call everyone needs to take note of.

Stop this. Now.