Gabriel Martinelli has been one of a number of Arsenal players to struggle this season, with the Gunners facing a massive challenge to finally win the Premier League title
Gabriel Martinelli has expressed sympathy with Arsenal fans for their anger at the team’s disappointing season, as he admitted to being a supporter himself.
The Gunners are six points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool, having failed to win 10 of their 23 games. Thier inconsistent form has allowed the Reds to pull away, in a campaign that Mikel Arteta’s men were expected to mount a serious title challenge.
They have finished as runners-up in both of the last two seasons, but appeared to take a step back this term. Martinelli has been one of the players whose form has dipped this season, with the Brazilian scoring only seven goals and notching just three assists.
And the winger has insisted the Gunners squad is fully aware that they have not hit the targets expected this season. But he called on fans to rally behind Arteta’s side as they bid for trophies over the second-half of the campaign.
“I’m a fan myself. I know how they feel. Like us, they want to be champions,” Martinelli told ESPN Brasil. “Of course, we players are the first to push ourselves to want to win every game, to want to be Premier League champions. That’s football.
“Sometimes things don’t work out the way you’d like. We wanted to win the last two years, but it didn’t happen. And this year, with City not doing so well, Liverpool came on stronger. City are going to get going again, as they always do, and they’re going to be another team that will give us a hard time.
“We have to play our part, try to win games, stay calm. The Premier League is long and every game is difficult. When you think it’s going to be easy, it ends up being complicated. The Premier League is like that. Now we have to believe until the last game and moment. Trust in our quality.”
Arsenal have recovered in recent weeks, as showcased by Arteta earning a nomination for the Premier League Manager of the Month award for January. The Gunners claimed three wins and two draws from their games this month, extending their unbeaten run to 13 matches.
Their final top-flight outing of the month came in the hard-fought win over Wolves last week. And following that victory, Arteta called on his troops to keep grinding out results.
“I’m extremely proud of all the players. You can talk about our courage, you can talk about the spirit, but as well about intelligence. The way they managed emotionally the game, it was unbelievable,” he said.
“We went to the second half, the only message was to go out there and help to win the game. That’s it. Somebody doesn’t feel it, don’t go. And they certainly did it in a very convincing way to themselves to win the game.
“That’s what they show us every single day and this season has been very special for many circumstances, a lot of them very challenging today. Still, we go about it. So that’s what I love about them. And I think that’s why our supporters celebrated and they were behind them because they can feel that.”
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