Gabriel Martinelli sat down this week to discuss how his upbringing in Brazil developed his style of play, the mental side of being a forward, Mikel Arteta’s influence on him and more.
Here’s everything that he had to say on the following subjects.
on how he describes himself as a human off the pitch:
“It’s hard to speak about myself. I’m a family guy, I like to stay at home with my friends. I always try to bring my family and friends over to spend time with me. I always try to help people.”
on his game being about control and touch after his career began in Brazil:
“Futsal was really important in my growth in football. You play in a smaller pitch or court and you have to think quicker. How you control the ball is different. You don’t have much space so it helps you a lot.”
on his approach to taking defenders on with speed:
“It’s really quick. When you’re in the game, you don’t think much. It’s just instinct. Think something and you do it. I can’t tell what I do because it’s something that comes from my mind in the game and, when I see the opposite player, it’s not just A to B to C. It’s different depending on the other players as well. It’s never the same.”
"Mikel taught me to control the ball more with my left foot, now it's super easy"
on who is the second fastest player in the squad:
“I think Kieran Tierney is quicker than me to be fair! I think he’s the first one and I’m the second.”
on who is the most difficult defender to play against:
“It has to be Walker and Konate. They’re both tough to beat. I see how he is, how his body is and try to do what I do to beat him.”
on what goes through his mind when he sees Saka with the ball on the right wing:
“I’m always thinking that he’s going to take the full back on and cross the ball to me or create a chance for the team, so I’m always ready for the rebound.”
on what it’s like for forwards to go through periods of not scoring:
“When you play up front and don’t score, of course it’s a bit hard. We want to score and help the team, this is what we do, we have to score goals, but sometimes you’re not scoring and it’s difficult but I just try to think positive and try to give my best as always and work harder. If I’m not scoring, it doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything in the game, so I try to help the team as much as possible.
“That’s football. We get used to it, we’re professional and we know how it works. We have to keep going and do our best and things are going to come our way. It feels really good when you score again. It’s a relief, you feel free.”
on Mikel Arteta’s energy on the sidelines and his influence:
“It’s really hard to see what he does on the touchline. For me when I play on the opposite side, it’s so far away so I can’t see him. If he wants to say something to me, he has to call someone to say something to me, but we just focus on the game and what is happening there.
“He’s been really important in my growth in football. I think when he got here I was 19. We’ve been through the process with the team and he has helped not just me but every single player in the squad. For me he was really important, helping me with my game.
“When I’m on the left, I used to control the ball with my right foot. When he came, he said ‘no, try to control the ball with your left so you can take the opponent on.’ Since then, I tried to do it and nowadays I do it every time, so it’s super easy for me.”
on Win the dog:
“Everyone at the training ground loves her. Everyone tries to spend time with her when she’s around. Ben White or Kai Havertz the most because sometimes they take her home to go for a walk.”
on what we need to do to win the Premier League:
“We have a really good team, really good players. We’ve been second two seasons in a row and we want to make it this year. We know our qualities, we know we can do it, it’s just about being calm. The season is long and we’re still in the beginning so we have to go game by game and it’s very difficult. We have to try to win all of them to be champions. We trust in ourselves and we go for it.
“We can’t think about the last game of the season if we don’t do our job now. We just try to be focused.”
on what song he would listen to if he could only pick one for the rest of his life:
“Maybe my song here at Arsenal! He comes from Sau Paulo and he plays for The Arsenal.”
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