Arteta risks losing the respect of its Arsenal roster if the unfinished Aubameyang is not dropped, Martin Keown says, and the Gunners boss is urged to bring Gabriel Martinelli back out of the cold.
He’s too good to sit on a bench
Another unbeatable performance was delivered by the North London heavyweights last time, with Liverpool leaving Emirates Stadium with a comfortable 3-0 win. Pierre-Emerick offered little in this competition, and Martin believes the big decisions now have to be made with the club captain and the Brazilian teenager. Former Gunners defender Martin Keown said Arteta has a big decision to make about their captain. He set an example by throwing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang recently in the derby of North London. Pierre-Emerick was supposed to start against the Spurs, but showed up late and was pulled.
Time to shine for Martinelli
Shouldn’t Mikel Arteta drop him because he performed as badly as against Liverpool? If he sticks to it, he risks losing the respect of the group. It’s time to bring 19-year-old Gabriel Martinelli. He’s too good to sit on the bench. His teammates see him in training and know what he can do. They will be puzzled by his constant absence.
He said that Arsenal players have no time to feel sorry for themselves. They need to rebound against the Prague side that knocked Leicester and Rangers out of the Europa League and that Mikel will have to make the big decisions he needs to qualify. The Gabonese frontman has pledged to secure a lucrative new contract early in the current campaign, but has not yielded any benefit from this exercise of faith. He has hit the mark 14 times this season, but more was expected from the 31-year-old frontman, who has drawn the gap in his last four appearances.
The up-and-coming South American enjoyed a prolific debut campaign with the Gunners in 2019-20 before being felled by injury. Shaking off knocks proved difficult, but the 19-year-old is now ready to go. Mikel chose not to give the young man regular playing time with his last start against Manchester United on January 30th – when he was taken out part-time.