‘The energy he’s got’: Mikel Arteta backed to unleash ‘incredible’ 21-year-old for Arsenal tomorrow
Charles Watts has backed Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to reinstate Gabriel Martinelli to the Gunners starting XI this weekend.
Arsenal return to Premier League action with a trip to Leicester City in a 3pm GMT kickoff this Saturday.
The Gunners will be hoping to make it two consecutive wins after last weekend’s dramatic 4-2 win at Aston Villa.
In that game, Arteta opted to drop Martinelli and name Leandro Trossard in his starting XI in Birmingham.
The January signing delivered a fairly average performance before Martinelli came on in his place.
Meanwhile, the Brazil international made a huge difference, scoring and causing Villa’s defenders no end of problems.
Arsenal’s win was a huge result, particularly as Manchester City then stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Now with another tricky away fixture on the horizon, Arteta has a big decision to make in attack.
Watts, speaking on his YouTube channel, tipped the Arsenal boss to opt for Martinelli ahead of Trossard.
“Do you stick with Trossard from the start for this one? It’s going to be an interesting call for Mikel Arteta, I think,” said the Goal.com journalist.
“Personally, I imagine Martinelli will come back into the side for this one, especially after the impact he made at Villa Park.
“There is certainly an argument to suggest maybe you go with Trossard and you bring on Martinelli with half an hour to go.
“That pace, that enthusiasm, that drive, the energy that he’s got, it just causes teams all sorts of problems.
“And that’s been backed up with his last couple of appearances off the substitutes bench.
“It’s a bit of a decision I think from Mikel to make. Personally, I think he’ll probably go with Martinelli.”
Why strength in depth is so important
Martinelli is an ‘incredible‘ talent, but prior to the Villa game, there were calls for him to drop out of the starting XI.
He had suffered a downturn in form, suggesting that he needed a bit of a breather.
As it turned out, naming Martinelli on the subs’ bench proved a masterstroke from Arteta.
The Brazilian looked so much more refreshed when he came on, very much back to his best.
Although it wasn’t Trossard’s finest game, the fact Arteta could start him and rest Martinelli shows why strength in depth is so important.
