Lol Martinelli's pace hasn't gone anywhere, but I think the assist and that brilliant flick for the goal have skewed people's opinions. He's had a stop-start season and at times seems low on confidence, with things just not falling his way. Just look at that moment on the left when he tried to take on the defender, only for him to stick out a leg and stop him in his tracks. Without the assist, people would have been moaning about how poor he is again. But even when he's out of form and low on confidence, he never hides. He always tries to push us forward and consistently helps out defensively.
It's not just this game either. He looked really dangerous when he came back from injury a few weeks ago, but there were still complaints when he didn't convert some tough chances. It’s honestly all about perception. The final product, whether it’s a goal or an assist, really affects how people view a player. When he scores or assists, a player's performance gets more credit, even if he wasn’t great otherwise. But when he doesn’t, despite being the most threatening player, people will moan and groan.
Look at Saka, who came on and scored. Everyone was going on about our starboy"being back, but his goal was just a tap-in, created by a piece of magic from Martinelli. It’s great to have Saka back, but it proves my point that the end product really shapes opinions. If a player doesn’t score or assist, they can be considered poor, but if they do, everything suddenly seems better. I get it. An attacking player should be scoring or assisting somewhat regularly. But that overlooks the small margins, like a shot going just wide or a goal being ruled out for a fraction of an offside. Martinelli's had two goals and an assist ruled out in recent games if I remember correctly.
This is also why Odegaard and Trossard get so much criticism. Odegaard, in particular, has been under fire, but his final ball has been just slightly off. A slightly earlier pass, a slightly different run by the attacker and he'd have a bunch more assists. Trossard has been getting killed because he hasn't been scoring as much as usual (though I kind of understand that criticism because to be fair, when he isn't scoring he can be a liability at times, especially when losing the ball in dangerous areas near our goal).
We don’t play to Martinelli's strengths, instead using him for his relentless pressing and tracking, and as an outlet to stretch play and win set pieces. But he’s still effective. Despite being injured and out for parts of the season, he’s not far behind the big names we’re being linked with.
I do want us to strengthen, though. Bringing in new players could push the current ones to improve, as long as we make decisions on who to play based on form and merit, not just because of shiny new signings like Mikel tends to do. I still believe Martinelli will explode in the right way and get the recognition he deserves when things start going his way and his shots and crosses get converted. With just a little more luck, he could have easily added another 5 goals or assists this season.
