Finished

Morning.

I’m not feeling great today, some kind of cold, so this might be a short blog. Anyway, there’s not much going on this morning. Routine Champions League wins don’t leave too many ripples, and we’ll wait for Mikel Arteta’s press conference later to see if there’s anything interesting stirring there.

I did want to talk a little about Gabriel Martinelli who got the first goal on Wednesday night to bring his total to the season to 3. That puts him alongside Viktor Gyokeres as our leading scorer, and in terms goals plus assists he has 4, which is more than anyone bar one player. Leandro Trossard, who also has 2 goals and 2 assists.

It’s quite funny that two players many would have been all right with leaving this summer lead the way in those metrics. Yes, it’s early days and there’s a long way to go, but their contributions helped us to an away win in Bilbao, and Martinelli’s late goal got us what I think was a deserved point against Man City at home. The Brazilian started on the right against Olympiacos which meant Mikel Arteta could ‘rest’ Bukayo Saka ahead of tomorrow’s game against West Ham. The same could apply to Trossard who started on the left, where I think we’ll see Eberechi Eze tomorrow.

Even without goals and assists, that’s useful. The discussion around squad depth has gone on longer than this season. People have bemoaned Arteta’s use of a core group of players as an impediment to success, and for various reasons that’s probably true. The question is whether you think that’s a matter of choice versus circumstance. I tend to believe it’s much more the latter than the former, but in previous campaigns we haven’t had sufficient quality in reserve. There’s no question about that this time around.

And yet, Martinelli in particular was, in some quarters, more or less written off as a player who could have a positive impact. After the game against Athletic Club, where he came off the bench to score and provide an assist, as did Trossard, I wrote:

As for Martinelli, I completely understood all the talk of an upgrade, and that was something I was open to all summer. I don’t think criticism of his performances in pre-season were invalid at all, but there is a way to acknowledge a player is below his best without completely writing him off. The idea that he was a busted flush never made sense to me. A player lacking in form and confidence? Absolutely. A player who hasn’t quite developed into the one we thought he might become? I can see that. But someone who was so bad we should just get rid? No chance.

We all love shiny new things, and by things I mean signings. However, the idea that these new arrivals make the players we already have useless prevails far too widely, in my opinion. I love the signing of Eze, but I love that we have players like Martinelli and Trossard too. Are they perfect? No, but are they high quality established Premier League and international players who give you depth and variety? Absolutely. What’s that saying about not letting perfect be the impediment to good? They’re good, and they’ve shown it.

I think it’s also worth highlight the attitude of players who absolutely understand what it means when a club like Arsenal goes out and spends big money on a player, or players, who play in their position. After the game against Olympiacos, Martinelli was asked about competition for places, and spoke really well about it. Not about himself, per se, but about what it means for the collective:

“It’s good for the club, you know, we want to have the best players around us. And yeah, as I said, we have a very good group and a big one now. It’s good for the club. We want to win every title that we play in. And yeah, this is what we’re going to try to do.

“It’s the same in the national team for me. I’m not going to complain to have Vinicius Jr, and Rodrygo ,and Raphinha playing with me. I’m really happy to have them there and I’m happy to have the players that we have here, as well.”

So, while I think everyone is entitled to their opinions about players, it’s worth remembering there’s a middle ground. It doesn’t have to be at the extremes all the time. Good players go through runs of indifferent form, or fan scrutiny, then come out the other side. Martinelli and Trossard have demonstrated that, and their ability to produce goals and assists when their minutes have been more scant is a credit to them, and augurs well for the team.

Martin Odegaard is another example. He showed his quality on Wednesday, and even last season when his form, by his own admission, was below par by his standards, he still had 6 goals and 12 assists. Not his best, but not terrible either. Certainly not as bad as some would have you believe. I saw a lot of comment about Ben White on Wednesday. Rusty? Absolutely. He’s had a horrible time with injury in the last 12 months, but we know the quality is there, and while Jurrien Timber has overtaken him, let’s not fall into the trap of thinking White isn’t going to be a valuable member of the squad between now and May.

I guess it’s a by-product of the media environment in which we live these days. The loudest voices and the most strident opinions are the ones which gain most traction, but the reality is far more nuanced than that. As ‘finished’ Martinelli, ‘washed’ Trossard and ‘he was never that good anyway’ Odegaard have shown us.

Right, I’ll leave it there. We’ll look ahead to the West Ham game in our Patreon preview podcast a bit later on this afternoon, so please join us for that. In the meantime, there’s an Arsecast below, and for some extra reading this morning Tim’s column is about Jurrien Timber’s arse. Sort of.

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