Since Mikel Arteta took over the Arsenal hot-seat from Unai Emery, the mood around the Gunners’ camp appears to have taken a turn for the better.
The players are responding to this methods and though they’re unlikely to see any real benefit in terms of silverware this season, the Spaniard has given his first team staff a platform from which they can build again, as the club look to Arteta to bring back the glory days.
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Working with the younger players is clearly something the manager loves to do too, but he has fired a warning shot across the bows to Gunners sensation Gabriel Martinelli.
“I cannot stop working with them (younger players) because it’s a joy,” he told Sky Sports. “[…] They are the future of the club.
“[…] He (Martinelli) needs to digest a lot of things. The better you do, the more you have to start to digest what people think about you. He has to think ‘now, the opponents know me better, the spaces are smaller, I am going to have more attention.
“’I still want to do what I was doing three weeks ago or four weeks ago, but now it’s not happening.’ As a young player, you need to go through that. The mental side of it is a process.”
It’s clear to anyone that has watched Martinelli in action during 2019/20 that he has something about him.
The exuberance of youth and a fearlessness to his forward play has made leaving him out of the side an almost impossible decision for Arteta.
But the manager will know that giving a player too much, too soon, particularly when it seems that supporters are ready to label Martinelli as their new jewel in the crown, could have an adverse effect.
Arsenal fans will hope Arteta’s wise words mean the teenager will be ready to adjust his game and react well to the pressure if and when his form does suffer a bit of a dip.