Martinelli is ‘in a good place’

ARSENAL may be top of the table and winning matches that they might have previously only drawn, but there’s a critic around every corner.

Attacker Gabriel Martinelli knows this only too well after questions over how productive he has been bombing down the left wing since returning from the World Cup in Qatar.

The exceptionally high standards being set by Mikel Arteta’s championship chasers means even two or three off colour games can lead to restlessness in the Emirates Stadium seats.

After leaving him on the bench for the trip to Aston Villa, Arteta introduced him as a sub, allowing him to score his now infamous celebrate-before-you-score tap-in goal. Seven days later, he produced the only goal of the game as the Gunners inched past Leicester to maintain their place at the Premier League summit.

And now Arteta has backed the talented Number 11 to kick on for the rest of the season.

“Sometimes you have to give someone a breather to come back with more enthusiasm and more energy, he contributed with a fantastic goal that gives us the win, and with his contract, I’m delighted because we’ve been working for a while on that and we want to keep our best players with us,” he said.

“He is committed to what we are doing as a club.”

It’s still not exactly what the 21-year-old’s best position is. Sometimes he appears to struggle when reaching the box and finding defenders in front of him, but when he makes runs in behind defences he is showing he can deliver a lethal touch.

This is perhaps why Arteta is considering rotating who plays in the central forward role, after dropping Eddie Nketiah to the substitutes’ bench. He opted for January signing Leandro Trossard to lead the line.

“We had the option to play Gabi [Martinelli] as a nine and Leo on the left, we had to see how the game developed and what Leicester wanted to do,” said Arteta.

“I wanted to have that option from midfield to make that change if necessary, and it was great because I think Leo’s contribution was really good.”

Either way, Martinelli is ready for the final run-in to this year’s exciting title chase – and Arteta said his motivation has never dimmed.

“We’re not going to lose that on Gabi.” the Gunners boss said.

“My worry if anything is sometimes you have to slow him down because he has got too much. He’s in a great place.”