Gabriel Martinelli at Arsenal 2023/24: Is the winger underperforming this season? – scout report

Football is everywhere. Thanks to more and more TV coverage of live games and highlights and social media, there is no hiding place for those who are deemed to be underperforming. While increased exposure to football has positive elements attached to it, there is also a fair share of negative overtones – from an analytical perspective. Fans, and sometimes pundits, are generally quicker to criticise a player for bad form, and with the general public having more access to match data and footage has ever been available before, we sometimes see players being wrongly criticised as a result of misusing/misinterpreting player data.

Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli has somewhat fallen under that exact microscope this season due to his significant decrease in G/A. Last season in the Premier League, Martinelli registered 15 goals and five assists but has only had two of each so far this season in Englands top flight. Understandably, many Arsenal fans are disappointed at the Brazil Internationals reduced involvement at the business end of the pitch, with some rival fans even mocking the stat. Still, if youve watched Arsenal this season, you will know that Martinelli has been effective, just in different areas than last season. This scout report will compare data & match footage from this and last season, with the analysis looking to uncover why his G/A contribution has dropped. The tactical analysis will also provide context around Martinellis role this season, as it has been altered from last season.

In terms of data provided, we will only be using stats from the Premier League when discussing isolated statistics. The same goes for various data visuals – keep in mind that the visuals depicting last seasons performance include Martinellis appearances throughout the whole season.

Overview

To get the ball rolling, we can discuss his overall performance in terms of data (compared with other left-wingers in tier-one leagues), allowing us to pull apart some key areas of his game early on. At the time of writing, Martinelli has played 18 EPL games.

There are some blaring similarities between his output this season so far and last season – he has been highly involved in the box, as evidenced by his high percentile ranking for touches in the box per 90. This is an immediate hint that he hasnt been letting games pass him by and is still critical of Arsenals attacking tactics; his role has just altered.

As for the stat that has raised eyebrows in