Really? I thought he wasn't that good yesterday.
I don't know Jay, I just don't rate him or view him the way you do.
Any offer of £60m+, we should be selling and reinvesting IMO.
He’s worth more.
24 and already a world star. I think he will eventually be moved inside.
This year the guy has 11 goals and 5 assists (16 G+A) in 1,952 minutes of football - thats excellent for a wide player - and people are saying he's having a **** season??? It's a joke.
He's been a sqaud player this year in the main - playing less than half the minutes -and even less than that in the PL (where he's only played 846 minutes the whole season!).
To put that in perspective, Semenyo has 18 goals and 6 assists in 3,167 minutes - a rate LESS than Martinelli.
Semenyo- a goal or assist every 132 minutes of play
Martinelli - a goal or assist every 122 minutes of play
This Kvaratskhelia, lauded as a must buy and one of the best in the world, has 11 goals and 8 assists in 2.216 minutes of football this season - a goal or assist every 111 minutes - and he plays in a MUCH weaker league for the best team by miles.
Semenyo is lauded as a potential player of the season.
Kvaratskhelia is seen as a world class superstar.
Martinellii is castigated for being **** - despite scoring and assisting at a similar rate PLUS being MUCH better defensively than both the other two and having an almost perfect attitude to play for the team.
That is how ridiculous and extreme fan football opinions are. They are purely emotional and driven by narratives and trends on social media
Martinelli can play well, like he did against Southampton, yet be the first person blamed if we lose a game.
Players like Semenyo can do nothing for a few games on the spin, then score a goal and be lauded as one the best in the world that 'if only' we'd bought.
Martinelli beat his defender almost at will against Southampton, including beating his defender and putting a cross on an absolute plate for Odegaard, who fluffed his shot.
Once again he also did his defensive duties well.
His energy and work rate is second to none.
People are just too impressionable and just allow themselves to go along with trends.
It’s like other Internet tropes such as ‘Saka needs a rest’. As soon as he started getting rested more, his form dropped and he got injured more often. He never needed a rest because he wasn’t playing too much and resting him too often has hammered his form, but the trope started and once it does, it snowballs.
‘We need a striker to score 20’ was another internet trope. A totally insane opinion that doesn't take into account style of play or whether the team is scoring enough.
There have been many of these fan fiction tropes - on the verge of cliches - hammered on social media for ages and it's getting worse.
Reality doesn't seem to matter.
It goes the other way too - players can play absolute garbage and get away with the narrative they are having a great season.
Generally speaking, not always, the opposite is true of the opinions that gain traction - or at least greatly exaggerated in either direction.
To sell a 24 yr old approaching 100 goals and assists for Arsenal (which he will probably reach this year) would be an absolute folly and terrible decision by the club -
especially for just £60m when we just spent £50m on Madueke!
You tell me what player we are replacing Martinelli with that will accept half the minutes over a season (and less than a 3rd in the PL) and still score/assist at the rate of players talked about as the best in the world, whilst staying fully committed and not showing even a shred of a bad attitude when it comes to working for the team no matter what. Oh, and whilst also being lightning quick and a major threat to the bigger teams on the break when we are under pressure, often scoring important goals. Good luck with that.
I would say, be very very careful what you wish for, and don't let an expectation that he has to start every game , score and assist 30+ times a season, and light up every game to be anything but **** and deserve a place in the squad cloud your judgement.
He may very well be the best squad player in the world at this time - with the potential still to be more. Again, he is just 24.
Familiarity and 'grass is greener' mindsets seem to have a negative effect on Arsenal fans.
I am even seeing absolutely insane and similar talk about Saka (not you) - instead of 'Saka is not at his best , but he's still doing ok' - the reality - it's 'Saka is finished' (at 24, lol) and is '****' and we should 'cash in'.
Football fans are clueless in the main. The same people trying to run Saka out of the club are making excuses for a 28 year old Gyokeres and insisting we need to build our entire team around him for years to come. It's pure insanity
