With away games against Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City in the Premier League and Atalanta in the Champions League, Arsenal were handed an incredibly tough set of fixtures to kick off this season. Yet, they’ve come away with two draws, two wins and a real chance of going one step further this season.
Mikel Arteta has utterly transformed the Gunners from a team that would regularly get turned over in big games to a team that can go toe-to-toe with the best in the world, and were it not for a split second in which they lost concentration, they would have come away from the Etihad with all three points despite being down a man for 55 minutes or so.
The good news for the North Londoners is that after a few weeks of elite competition, their game this evening in the League Cup is against League One side Bolton Wanderers, and while they must treat the game with the same respect as any other, the manager can afford to make several changes, one of which should be dropping Gabriel Martinelli.
Why Arteta should bench Martinelli
Yes, one of the stars that Arteta should look to drop for tonight’s cup clash is Martinelli, but not because he was poor against City, but quite the opposite.
Despite plenty of criticism over the last few weeks for his fairly underwhelming start to the season, the manager opted to start him on Sunday, and the young Brazilian more than repaid him for doing so by putting in a performance that should buy him more time to get back to his best among the fans.
In the first half, when the Gunners had all 11 players on the pitch, the former Ituano gem was an effective outlet down the left, and after making a well-timed run from their quick free-kick, he laid the ball off to Riccardo Calafiori, who proceeded to score a goal of the season contender.
However, when the manager opted to keep him on over Saka in the second half, he really stepped up and showed another impressive side to his game.
Even though the attacking opportunities entirely dried up, he put in a monumental defensive shift and ran himself into the ground, and as you can see from his heatmap, he spent most of the game just in front of the penalty area, putting his body on the line to stop City from scoring.
His efforts earned him a well-deserved 8/10 from football.london’s Kaya Kaynak, and while he probably would have wanted to see the game out, Arteta had to take him off in the 87th minute as he was exhausted, so he should be rested for tonight’s game as well.
Why Sterling should start
So, with Martinelli earning himself a rest for tonight’s fixture and Leandro Trossard unable to play due to his second yellow against City, it’s the perfect opportunity for Arteta to start a player he once helped turn into one of the most dangerous goalscorers in the country: Raheem Sterling.
The 29-year-old has only made a few substitute performances for the club so far, and while he’s not looked great, he deserves a chance to show the fans what he can do.
Moreover, while the Englishman’s stock has fallen since leaving the Etihad two years ago, his raw output has remained reasonably impressive despite the circus that has been Chelsea Football Club.
For example, in his first campaign with the Blues, the “unbelievable” winger, as Arteta dubbed him, scored nine goals and provided four assists in 38 games. Last season, he did even better, racking up ten goals and eight assists in 43 appearances.
This means that over the last two campaigns, the Kingston-born dynamo has maintained an average of a goal involvement once every 2.61 games, which is undoubtedly a good enough output to be the club’s backup winger and start in games like this.
Appearances
38
43
Goals
9
10
Assists
4
8
Goal Involvements per Match
0.34
0.41
Ultimately, Martinelli needs and deserves a rest following his sensational efforts on Sunday, so Arteta should start Sterling in his place.
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