martinelli was dropping stinkers whenever he was given a chance as he was adjusting post-injury. when he showed some good form, he got his starts.

comment by Lexington 125.2 (U8879)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 44 minutes ago
Arteta comments on not putting in the youngsters without preparation and doing it it at the right time etc. is I think was an admission that Martinelli should have been more involved sooner. Now I hope he reconsiders his position on Saliba next summer if he is still in charge.
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Sounds more like he is saying he is handling Martinelli perfectly and we are reaping the benefits.
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Yeah, that’s my take on his comments too.
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Exactly, strange conclusion from j99

https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/pierre-emerick-aubameyang-sends-message-to-gabriel-martinelli-after-arsenal-brace-vs-leeds/

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-david-seaman-aaron-ramsdale-25732939

comment by Passion Power - Make 1984 fiction again (U8398)
posted 10 hours, 40 minutes ago
comment by Lexington 125.2 (U8879)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 44 minutes ago
Arteta comments on not putting in the youngsters without preparation and doing it it at the right time etc. is I think was an admission that Martinelli should have been more involved sooner. Now I hope he reconsiders his position on Saliba next summer if he is still in charge.
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Sounds more like he is saying he is handling Martinelli perfectly and we are reaping the benefits.
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Yeah, that’s my take on his comments too.
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Exactly, strange conclusion from j99
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There was no need to mention how he handled Martinelli if he felt he did so properly. The questioner didn't ask him that. He asked him whether he was developing well and he could have replied very well. The only reason to go off topic was because was cognisant of the criticism. I think people should be well aware by now that Arteta does not use his squad often leaving backups without football. Then when they are expected to perform they don't always hit the ground running which leads to a few more months without being included. Martinelli was ignored for months last season. You don't improve by not playing.

Willian before Martinelli?

Martinelli came back from a long term injury, then picked up other injuries. And still started more often than Willian in the second half of the season.

He started the first 2 games this season, didn't play very well. Got dropped, we went on a long undefeated run. Maybe he could have got a few more minutes from the bench, but that is a little quibble. He also played the league cup games to keep him match ready.

Coincidently, Gabi started 4 of our 6 defeats this season - the two defeats he didn't start were against the best 2 teams in England, maybe Europe.

Maybe, with Xhaka and Tierney missing a few games, Arteta felt he needed something else on the left side as well.

Now people will moan that ESR hasn't started a few games...

Also worth noting that Emery never started Gabi in the PL. Despite his Europa and League Cup form. In fact, he only twice gave him more than the last 13 minutes in the league.
Freddie then gave him 3 starts, then he got a hamstring injury. Once fit, Arteta used him off the bench in his first game fit, then started him in 3 PL games, a Europa tie and 2 FA Cup games. Then he got the knee injury that went into the next season.

Remembering he was still 18/19, and just come from the lower Brazilian leagues, Arteta tried to protect him a bit, and almost certainly there was work on Gabi to improve his conditioning, strength and to help recover from the knee injury.

All this while also integrating two other youngsters into the attack, and having a major rebuild this summer.

Maybe, maybe, if he had played against Palace and Brighton we may have won. Equally we may have lost. I very much doubt he would have stopped us losing to Liverpool though, so hard to see where taking it slowly with Gabi has harmed the teams results this season.

Let’s see if Martinelli can keep up this form. He’s got no real competition either so can make the Arsenal no 1 striker position his if he wants it bad enough. It could just be a purple patch as there is still a long way to go in the season. I’m however impressed with ESR goal scoring. That guy needs to be paid big time to keep vultures away

Not sure what your arguing against.

Every manager has a different way of doing things. All approaches have positives and negatives.

Arteta preferred Pepe, Auba and Willian over Martinelli playing wide last season. There is no doubt about that. He dropped Martinelli after a poor performance against Chelsea where he was not defending like Arteta likes and was not seen again. There were plenty of times Auba was being criticised for playing left back more that wide attacker because of the way we sat deep last season.

Now we are playing higher as a team and so not defending deep so Martinelli has more freedom to stay higher up pitch just like Saka and we are seeing some benefits of it.

To say Arteta didn't select Martinelli only because of injury is disingenuous at best. And even Arteta isn't using that defence.

Not sure what your arguing against.
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"...is I think was an admission that Martinelli should have been more involved sooner"

Again, he did not prefer Willian. Once Martinelli was fit he started more than Willian. But after a long term injury it is wise to be cautious, especially with youngsters. You seem to be totally writing his knee injury out of history!!

"To say Arteta didn't select Martinelli only because of injury is disingenuous at best. And even Arteta isn't using that defence."
Arteta comments on not putting in the youngsters without preparation and doing it it at the right time etc.

That exactly what he means... Not just the injury issues, also how he fits into the team, the options he has etc, and the form of the team.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 2 minutes ago

You seem to be totally writing his knee injury out of history!!

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No I am not. And to be fair to Arteta he is not using the injury excuse either.

It is completely understandable that Arteta gravitates towards more experienced players at the club until he is convinced that the youngsters can do better. But as the players are youngsters they cannot show him their consistency until they actually get a consistent run of games. Thats a catch 22 for younger players. I think AMN for example is in the same boat trying to unseat Xhaka.

Its only this season that Arteta has given up on Pepe and Auba to go to Martinelli. And Martinelli is showing so far to Arteta that he was right to do so.

Its only this season that Arteta has given up on Pepe and Auba to go to Martinelli.
====
Probably because now is the right time and Martinelli is prepared, physically, mentally and tactically. As Arteta said in the interview, that you have somehow twisted into Arteta getting it wrong.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 8 seconds ago
Its only this season that Arteta has given up on Pepe and Auba to go to Martinelli.
====
Probably because now is the right time and Martinelli is prepared, physically, mentally and tactically. As Arteta said in the interview, that you have somehow twisted into Arteta getting it wrong.
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And it could also be reasonably be argued that actually its Pepe poor form and Auba's indifference that left him no choice.

There are other options though, not least Emile Smith Rowe!!

On the bench for the United game, Laca, Pepe, Saka, Nketiah, Tierney. All could have started instead of Martinelli.
He also brought on Martinelli ahead of others as first sub in the previous game.
Arteta was not left with no choice, not by any stretch of the imagination. Quite a weak strategy of trying to undermine the manager here, J99.

It's hard to know how much credit should go to Arteta and how much to others like the BFG for how our younger players are developing, but personally I like the fact that he isn't just throwing younger players in after a couple of good performances and making them earn their first team places, keeping them humble and keeping them hungry for more.

Wenger was very good at playing younger players, but how many of them lost their way along the journey, being thrust into the first team young and failing to deal with the pressure, the fame and the expectation that comes with that?

Arteta is demanding very high standards from the younger players, and now they are all playing well our more vocal fans/armchair critics seem to think Arteta should have played them sooner and we would have had this earlier. And that somehow without having to earn their place in the first team and without having that clear discipline from the top these younger players would have just become the promising young players they are today. It could all still go wrong for the likes of Saka, ESR, Martinelli, Odegaard, but it seems like Arteta is shouldering the blame for not playing them all the time (and other younger players who haven't yet got to the right level) and taking the pressure off them, rather than throwing them in and then exposing them to fan criticism if they don't make the difference.

Isn't this the long-term planning we have been demanding from Arsenal for so long, trying to develop a young team over multiple seasons so they can grow together and turn into a team that can compete at the top?

Agree 100%

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 41 minutes ago
On the bench for the United game, Laca, Pepe, Saka, Nketiah, Tierney. All could have started instead of Martinelli.
He also brought on Martinelli ahead of others as first sub in the previous game.
Arteta was not left with no choice, not by any stretch of the imagination. Quite a weak strategy of trying to undermine the manager here, J99.
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What makes you think I want to undermine the manager?

You need to get beyond your paranoid beliefs and thinking everything is black or white.

comment by Flamini'sShirtSleeves (U8186)
posted 22 minutes ago

Isn't this the long-term planning we have been demanding from Arsenal for so long, trying to develop a young team over multiple seasons so they can grow together and turn into a team that can compete at the top?
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And that is a good strategy and something we can all get behind.

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 41 minutes ago
On the bench for the United game, Laca, Pepe, Saka, Nketiah, Tierney. All could have started instead of Martinelli.
He also brought on Martinelli ahead of others as first sub in the previous game.
Arteta was not left with no choice, not by any stretch of the imagination. Quite a weak strategy of trying to undermine the manager here, J99.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

What makes you think I want to undermine the manager?

You need to get beyond your paranoid beliefs and thinking everything is black or white.
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Wow, how can you not see that what you are saying is "black or white". Arteta was forced to play Martinelli is the most black and white opinion going.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 27 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 41 minutes ago
On the bench for the United game, Laca, Pepe, Saka, Nketiah, Tierney. All could have started instead of Martinelli.
He also brought on Martinelli ahead of others as first sub in the previous game.
Arteta was not left with no choice, not by any stretch of the imagination. Quite a weak strategy of trying to undermine the manager here, J99.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

What makes you think I want to undermine the manager?

You need to get beyond your paranoid beliefs and thinking everything is black or white.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, how can you not see that what you are saying is "black or white". Arteta was forced to play Martinelli is the most black and white opinion going.
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And why would that be wrong? How many players have found their way into the team from circumstances and gone onto become regulars after showing what they can do?

Because it is never a case of "no choice". There is always merit, and manager decisions.
Same with Martinez. He was not #2, so never got a chance for 10 years. Many 'keepers were brought in ahead of him. Leno's injury gave him the chance, but that chance was only possible because Arteta did not bring in someone ahead of him like his predecessors did.

Trying to totally discredit Arteta and claim he was forced into it is wrong. Very wrong.

The same arguments were made last season with ESR. Only got in cos their were no options, even though the bench was stacked with options.

Arteta just gets very lucky with his development of young players, deserves no credit whatsoever...

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 4 minutes ago

Trying to totally discredit Arteta and claim he was forced into it is wrong. Very wrong.
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How is it discrediting Arteta?

In fact trying to pretend it was some master plan is bigger stretch than what I have suggested for the very reasons I posted.

If it was always Arteta's plan to introduce Martinelli this season on the wing why did he not sell Pepe last summer knowing that he had Martinelli, ESR and Saka. And Auba if necessary in a 4-2-3-1 formation that we have reverted back to?