Gabriel Martinelli (11)

Think Smith Rowe will come in against Tottenham. More of a goal threat and keeps the ball better.

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Nahh. I would love to see more of ESR on the pitch and he was one of our best players in the home game against them at the start of the seasonā€¦ But obviously Arteta prefers Martinelli atm and Iā€™d be very surprised to see ESR in the starting line up.

Was a tidy performance but you canā€™t keep having games where you play well and donā€™t score and expect to start consistently

As a forward production is the name of the game, hopefully he can take that next step, weā€™ve seen flashes but will need more than that to hold down his place long term

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Yeah I like him. But but after this game he is now on a 10 game goal drought. Which is not good enough

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Far better option. Martinelli better for impact from the bench.
We simply link better between him and Odegaard with link up play.

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Martinelli keeps the fallbacks occupied more than ESR does and that is so valuable going to Thursday

Yep, his pace will cause Conte some headaches considering they have to attack from the start and go for the 3 points.

He also presses relentlessly, that gives him the edge for that game

Martinelli probably ran home

Absolutely true in general but today he set up the second on a platter for Eddie and also toasted Ayling so many times that he lost his mind and got sent off.

Gabi did enough to win us the match in the first 25 minutes. We (including him) just made hard work of it after.

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Was his best game in a substantial period of time, really wish he could find his scoring boots though.

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I have reservations on this kids end product but always admire his attitude.
Genuinely tried his heart out tonight and deserved excusing of any blame tonight for.me.

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Definitely. I think him and Odegaard both had a very good game and never stopped trying.

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crafty and great attitude, needs polishing and need some directness and end product but great energy injection every time as of late.

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1 goal in his last 16 games.

He was alright today given the circumstances, but the bigger issue (outside of this game) is his inability to convert chances. Nuno Tavares would score more goals if he was playing Gabiā€™s position.

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Is ESR fit? Interesting Arteta goes with a forward who isnā€™t producing goals over a guy who does.

Not sure what Arteta wants from the LW spot but I do know if you take away ESRā€™s goals weā€™d be much worse off on the table

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The issue I have with ESR is a combination of fitness and his lack of off the ball quality. He doesnā€™t really contribute much to the game unless heā€™s scoring and because (statistically at least) his scoring run wasnā€™t sustainable I think it makes sense to take him out of the team.

Martinelli is good at retaining the ball and also offers a direct and fast threat to opposition defenders so I think his inclusion is based on what he offers when he isnā€™t scoring (which is never atm lol) and the fact heā€™s got the fitness to go at it for an entire game.

ESR is still very much a work in progress

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This kid is something else.

Here I am, seeing ESR dropping an absolute stinker of a performance. And then comes on Gabi. First few touches he is an absolute nightmare for Newcastle, Iā€™m like ā€œGame fucking on!ā€.
Then came his final ballā€¦
Lad plays in his own world, Iā€™m not even sure whatā€™s going on in his head. Is he seeing ghosts? Was he seeing ESRā€™s ghost? Was he seeing Auba?

I donā€™t give a shit about his national team duties and the fucking Olympics. Lad needs to fucking work on this during preseason, itā€™s outrageous how he throws all his good work awayā€¦

Heā€™s just another kid. Like ESR, like Saka, not a single one of them are the finished product, hell not even close to it yet if weā€™re being honest. Saka obviously looks the closest but he also get carte Blanche to start every game regardless of previous form.

Wide position is something weā€™re stacked with in regard to young prospects, we could do with a couple more options though moving into next season. Relying on these kids for another season will have similar results.

He does not see a pass this kid. Maybe in a few years weā€™ll be thankful for all the work experience heā€™s getting as a left wing, but his inexperience and general profligacy in front of goal has cost us.

3 Likes