“Bench him or you’ll risk losing your job before February”- Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has angrily WARNED Mikel Arteta to drop €85M rated star and unleash Arsenal’s £100k-p/w “game changer” after series of disappointing performances this season

Arteta must drop Martinelli & unleash Arsenal’s £100k-p/w “game changer” 

After Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham, Arteta could look to rotate his squad

• Arsenal’s chance to return to the top of the Premier League was lost after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to West Ham.
•  Gabriel Martinelli’s lack of confidence is evident, as shown by his limited goal and assist contributions this season.
•  Reiss Nelson deserves a chance in the starting XI due to his impressive stats and ability to provide creativity and support defensively.

Arsenal’s chance to return to the top of the Premier League was thrown away last night, as Mikel Arteta’s side suffered a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham United.

It was a night to forget for the entire team, with almost every individual underperforming.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard may look to rotate his squad in the next match versus Fulham, when he could unleash a £100k-per-week star.

Gabriel Martinelli vs West Ham

It is glaringly obvious when watching Arsenal that Gabriel Martinelli is lacking confidence at the moment, and his two goals and two assists in 17 Premier League games serve as evidence of that.

The start of his season was disrupted, as he missed six matches through a hamstring injury. However, on his return game against Manchester City, Martinelli looked sharp and full of belief, and he grabbed the crucial winner. The Brazilian was supposed to push on from that point, yet he has failed to be effective for the most part.

Although he had very little room to work due to West Ham’s solid low block and was without an overlapping fullback on his side, the 22-year-old failed to impress. He was often left isolated, and he looked as though he had run out of ideas when on the ball. That said, he did get into some good crossing positions, but his final output let him down.

Furthermore, his role in the side is to hold the width on the left, but against such a deep defence, he should be darting in at the back post far more often, as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were continuously producing crosses from the right. The number 11 had one shot all game, produced zero accurate crosses, had the lowest number of touches for a starting Arsenal outfield player, and lost the ball 14 times.

Why Reiss Nelson should replace Martinelli

Despite featuring just eight times, starting no matches, and only averaging 14 minutes per game, Reiss Nelson has shown glimpses as to why he deserves a chance in the Arsenal starting XI, especially considering he was a “game changer” for the Gunners last season, as per his teammate Eddie Nketiah.

The table below shows Nelson’s stats from the last year across the top European leagues.

As you can see, due to the small sample size and his lack of minutes, Nelson’s stats are massively enhanced, but it is still possible to showcase his strengths and what he could bring to the table if he were to feature from the off.

It is clear that the 24-year-old is a direct winger who has incredible technical qualities. Although the English attacker will let fly at any given chance, he is more of a creative player than one who will guarantee goals, using intelligent passing and dribbling with intent to create opportunities for himself and others.

This has also been on show in the Champions League this season, with the forward registering two assists in an average minutes per game of 35.

Furthermore, the fact that he has plenty of touches proves that he can provide an out ball to Arsenal on the left, like how Saka operates on the opposite wing. Nelson also has the desire to win the ball back and provide support defensively, which is important considering Oleksandr Zinchenko often inverts and has been slightly shaky as of late.

With all that said, Arteta has stood with Martinelli this season and continued to show faith in the winger, but it could be time for the boss to provide Nelson with an opportunity to thrive, even if it is coming on for the Brazilian after an hour of play