Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has singled out the one major trait that Gabriel Martinelli has improved in recent weeks.
Martinelli struggled to break into the first-team at the Emirates at the beginning of the campaign and only played in six of the London club’s opening 13 Premier League matches.
But, the Brazilian star has since started each of Arsenal’s last five top flight games, scoring three goals in their last two matches against West Ham United & Leeds United.
The 20-year-old’s displays have meant that Emile Smith Rowe has had to settle for a place among the substitutes bench, while former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been exiled from the first-term due to ‘disciplinary reasons.’
And Arteta has explained why Martinelli’s performance levels have risen recently, singling out one key area of his game that has improved.
‘You cannot play every action at 100mph, it is impossible,’ Arteta said.
‘It is not very efficient for you because you burn yourself out after a few minutes, and then you just chasing a situation and not reading exactly what is needed.
‘Gabriel is doing much better at that. We have to try to do that without losing the passion, the energy and this capacity he has to just affect the game with the way he acts on the pitch.
‘He trains incredibly hard, he is always willing to do more and he is not scared or afraid to take risks, and that is what I like about him.’
When asked what it would be like to play against Martinelli, Arteta said: ‘I can imagine, you’re not going to have any time on the ball, every time the ball is 50/50 he is going to chase it and he’s going to use his body, his speed, his technical ability to get away from you and you have to be careful, because he can attack you one v one, he can attack your back, he can make movements off the ball. He is a real threat in front of goal.’
