Don Pacifico I think that's based on hope more than anything at this point. I'm on record as loving Martinelli and his chaos aura, but feel this season is make or break for him. He doesn't have the luxury of youth and naivety any more.

Sterling is his biggest danger. Sterling won't be a long (or even possibly medium) term option, but he could show Arteta what he is missing in that position in terms of output.

It'll be interesting to see how Sterling plays out. He's not got the legs of Martinelli or Saka so you'd think there will be a few tactical tweaks to accommodate that which we may not have seen yet from Arteta. I hope we end up with one or both wide players doing less running and staying higher as a result.

We also need to fit Timber, Calafiori and Merino into that set up. I'm not convinced this team has the same peak as last season.

    lorddulaarsenal yep only a matter of time. a top left winger will be a game changer for us, if we ever land one

      We should be monitoring the Rodrygo situation at Madrid, think they'll likely bench him when all their CMs are fit. I know we've been linked with Nico Williams, but I prefer the Brazilian because he's got more goals in him.

      He (Rodrygo) has got the x-factor that eite forwards have and I believe he could be at least as good as Vinicius in the right environment. He's also very hard working and is a team player, so would be ideal for our pressing game.

        Tactics it is rumoured Carlo wants to play 4 CMs. So yeah. He has been balling at a supreme level. Would instantly upgrade us.

          Hasn't Rodrygo started every game for Real this season? He's a pipe dream much like Benzema was. People need to move on.

          Martinelli is playing with a ton of fear and uncertainty at the moment. His mojo is at zero.

          Worryingly I feel like it's gone beyond a 'he needs a goal', he needs a few to turn it around.

          His only saving grace at the moment is his work rate and defensive awareness, and the fact that Trossard isn't very impressive either.

          Yeah I agree with this point. His main attribute was getting the ball running at pace shifting it to get a gap and hitting a powerful strike on target quickly. He didn't have much else in his game and as teams have adapted to him he hasn't really been able to find those other areas he needs to develop.

          As an attacking threat right now it just doesn't look like he's offering us anything with how he plays. He's going to give you his defensive hard work but then your approach falls in line with what we've seen. Your set up to be a defensive team without much goal threat and you are going to be trying to nick a 1-0 through a set piece and holding. But it's a risky approach because if you don't get that out the opponents get it then it's very hard to overhaul. We saw it in the champions League away last season especially.

            awooga83 He didn't have much else in his game

            Disagree completely with this. I'm gonna shut up because I don't want to sound like a broken record when it comes to him. What I will say though is that I have every confidence he's going to prove a lot of people wrong.

                awooga83 As an attacking threat right now it just doesn't look like he's offering us anything

                I wouldn't go that far. It's worth bearing in mind that he was the one who was missing chances and making the wrong decisions in the last couple of games while Saka was the one simply not involved. He's just wildly inefficient at the moment.

                    Big Willie What I will say though is that I have every confidence he's going to prove a lot of people wrong.

                    This still raises the same issue as about our form in the first half of last season. The league title isn't decided by the level you reach at the end, but by the average level throughout the season. If Martinelli plays badly for a while and then comes good, he will still have been a problem for us. It would bode well for the coming seasons, sure.

                    I don't think us going on thar insane run in the second half of last season proved wrong the people who thought our form earlier in the season was a problem for winning the title.

                    • goon replied to this.

                        QuincyAbeyie

                        It shouldn’t take half a season to get some confidence back if you’re starting every week. I’d like to think you’ll see a change from him in the next few weeks, especially with the likes of Merino and Calafiori potentially coming in on his side of the pitch.

                            goon

                            I think they will both have a massive impact on his performances.

                              To me Martinelli feels a bit like Havertz when he arrived, working hard, do most things right but just missing that final bit of confidence to start balling out. I'm still backing him, I think it'll come.

                                Qwiss I'm still backing him, I think it'll come.

                                We'll it better come soon...

                                  goon this is fair, I think my point was I am starting to view him as I don't believe he's going to score if he gets that chance unlikely Trossard or Saka.

                                  I think the consistency point mentioned above is valid, what defines the top players is that ability to deliver at their high level regularly and martinelli hasn't been able to show that his form 2 seasons ago is his consistent level.

                                    Big Willie if he manages to do that great I hope he can. But his decision making generally hasn't been good good instincts are run, shift and shoot but the not difficult finding a way to contribute outside is that I think he's not been able to show he can make a difference. It originates from how he grew up with futsal where you need to run shift and shoot and get a powerful shot away and less about how you link up with those other aspects. I'm not sure he'd been able to show that transition enough for me so far.

                                      it's kinda funny. Martinelli regularly carves teams up, but does not partake in the actual dining. That run he made for the shot vs Atalanta is part of why he's so good. And the shot is why he's a problem.

                                      I've been hating on him this season but today he was great. Amazing defensive shift all game and was key for both goals