“He’s just so unplayable in the attack and defense, he’s one of the best in the league”- Owen Hargreaves confessed he was impressed by Arsenal’s underrated superstar who was crucial for Arsenal in their first PL WIN of the season
‘UNPLAYABLE IN ATTACK AND DEFENCE’: OWEN HARGREAVES WOWED BY £90K-A-WEEK ARSENAL STAR
Owen Hargreaves says Gabriel Martinelli was ‘unplayable’ in attack and defence after he helped Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday at the Emirates.
Whether it was intentional or not, Gabriel Martinelli’s outstanding roulette skill led to Eddie Nketiah opening the scoring for Arsenal, before Bukayo Saka’s thunderous curling effort doubled the lead.
t was a moment of magic by Martinelli on the left flank and Hargreaves backed the call to start the 22-year-old after Mikel Arteta shared that he was training ‘like a beast’ this week, as he told Premier League Productions (12/08/23 at 5:20 pm).
Last season, the Brazil international struck 15 Premier League goals in what was an outstanding campaign for the £90k-a-week star (Spotrac).
The aim for Martnelli now is to become that world class player. And that comes with him hitting those numbers again, which then equates to consistency.
And if he can produce that magic in the Champions League also, then he can start talking about being world class, with Hargreaves lauding his talents.
“He was absolutely unplayable, offensively and defensively,” said Hargreaves. “But it’s interesting that Mikel talks about training performances.
“He said ‘he trained like a beast and that’s why he plays’. You have to train well. But if you play well and score goals, then you stay in the side.
“So, I say, if he trains well again, then he will start again.”
Can Martinelli hit 20+ goals?
That will be the Brazil star’s aim because he has every chance to hit those numbers, especially given that Arsenal will be playing in the Champions League this season.
In the Europa League last season, he would have been rested for a fair few games, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he will be wanting to play twice a week now.
Either way, if Martinelli doesn’t hit 20+ goals, then someone like Bukayo Saka will probably hit those numbers because he is another player pushing towards that.
