Arsenal Saka & Martinelli: Treasures are good, but don’t overuse them

Arsenal Saka & Martinelli: Treasures are good, but don’t overuse them

In recent years, Arsenal has been a formidable youth army, and they are setting off their own youth storm in the Premier League. With an average age of just 24.3, they are one of the youngest teams in the entire Premier League. But being young does not mean disorder. They worked hard together and grew up together for many years. And Bukayosaka is the representative of this young revolution.

The young winger, who just celebrated his 21st birthday on Monday, has made 137 appearances for Arsenal at club level, and has also made 18 appearances for his country in the national team. He can play in multiple positions and, through his performances, has proven himself to be one of the best youngsters in Premier League history. He ranks fourth in league history in assists for players under the age of 21 with 18, while scoring a goal in a 3-1 loss to Manchester United the day before his 21st birthday His 18th goal since his Premier League debut.

Given what he’s achieved at such a young age, it’s all the more important to keep his game load in check, especially with the Qatar World Cup this winter.

Sacca has achieved greatness at the age of 21 (Photo: DavidPrice/ArsenalFCviaGettyImages)

“We’re going to do our best (to control his minutes),” Mikel Arteta said on Wednesday. “If the line-up and team performance allow, we will do our best to control his load and let him play in the best form. After November, we will have an unprecedented Winter World Cup.”

In fact, questions about his playing time and whether his load will affect his continued fulfillment of his potential have been raised from last season, and even the year before, when he was Arsenal’s second-most-attended non-goalkeeper, second only to zaka. Before Sunday’s game, he had played more minutes than any player under the age of 21 in Europe’s top five leagues.

Gabriel Martinelli is only three months younger than Saka, and his influence in Arteta is growing, but he has a completely different growth trajectory than Saka.

He initially made an impact in the Europa League. In his debut season, he scored 10 goals for the team, becoming the first young player since Anelka to score double figures in his first season. Since then, Martinelli has slowly recovered from the injury. He was one of the key figures in Arsenal’s top four last season, and this season, his fiery state has continued, and it seems that 6 games have already been played. Scored 3 goals.

However, in these three seasons, Martinelli’s load problem is still worrying. In June 2020 he suffered a serious knee injury, and in January 2021 he suffered another ankle problem. Then in the summer of 2021, he represented Brazil at the Olympics.

But in Martinelli’s absence, Smith Rowe took his place very well, giving him a new opportunity to re-adjust to the team after injury and fatigue.

But does this help his own growth and the team? Arteta said frankly: “I don’t know, we’re just trying to make the next decision based on what we’ve seen. How the players are, the depth of our squad and when we believe they’re going to be ready. Played. We have requirements for every player in this club, and these are fair to them. As for the outcome, time will tell.

“Now you can see a player with great potential who can still perform consistently at a high level. He needs to continue to perform like this and keep working hard.”

The Brazilian is out of the rotation on the eve of the end of the 2020-21 season, but Arteta has been eager to show that he remains part of the team’s long-term plans.

“He just needs some time, we need to find the right rhythm for him, build the right connection with him on the pitch and let him show his ability.” Arteta won 3-1 against Leicester City at the time After the game, he explained to the media why Martinelli was sitting on the bench.

“But the quality he’s showing now, the way he’s been in training, there’s no doubt he’s going to be a very important player for us. But when you have a lot of options, there are times when it’s hard to give up in a particular game. He’s showing his specific qualities at the moment. We need the best judgement on how the game is going.”

It wasn’t long before the youngster played better with Xhaka during Tierney’s injury absence. At the time, it was easy to forget how young Martinelli was.

Arteta also mentioned the difference between Tierney and Xhaka’s playstyle, allowing Martinelli to attack different areas depending on who he works with. Since then, this has become increasingly apparent

Martinelli offers different attacking options for Arsenal (Photo: GettyImages)

The Spaniard also did not hesitate to praise Saka and Martinelli last week, saying: “What they have done on the field is very rare and unbelievable for a big club. “

“If not, please give me some similar cases that are happening. We have great talent, a great group of people, and our club is willing to develop those talented players that are bought, and those who come from Children who grow up in youth training, you can see this very clearly.

Unlike Martinelli, Saka has been able to remain consistent, effective and comprehensive in the first team at such a young age, but it also means he has rarely had a chance to rest – either proactively or otherwise. Passive. Even outside the normal season, he has plans for, for example, the Premier League Project Restart in the summer of 2020, as well as last summer’s Euros, and he will appear in all four of England’s Nations League games this June.

The Europa League also seems to provide an opportunity to give them a chance to rest. Now they have Fabio Vieira, they have Marquinhos, they both have the ability to shine on the right (Vieira is more of a playmaker, and Marquinhos is more of a side Road threat point), but with the World Cup approaching, this is a problem they have to properly address.