Arsenal legend Ian Wright has questioned Mikel Arteta’s decision not to give more minutes to Gabriel Martinelli in yesterday’s 5-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The Gunners thrashed the Eagles at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard, and then a late brace from Martinelli when he came off the bench to add some gloss to the score-line.
However, Wright feels it was obvious that there was a role for Martinelli to play earlier in this game, with the Brazilian winger perhaps a better option than Trossard in terms of using his pace to get in behind the high line used by Roy Hodgson’s Palace.
Arsenal fans will be glad that Martinelli showed signs of getting back to his best once he did get on the pitch, but Wright perhaps has a point about Arteta not making the most of this opportunity to do even more damage to Palace earlier on.
Speaking about the game on Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro, Wright said: “When you get someone like Gabriel Martinelli in that much space, the line was so high, I was very surprised he didn’t start.”
Arsenal’s win over Palace was their first since they beat Brighton over a month ago, and their next test comes away to Nottingham Forest in just over a week.