Al-Hilal Have Already Learned the Gabriel Martinelli Lesson That Escaped Arsenal

Gabriel Martinelli Al-Hilal form, Digi Mart USA News: A few months into his Saudi Pro League tenure, Gabriel Martinelli is already proving a worthy investment. The former Arsenal winger has an impressive return of six goals in six games, with his form heading into his injury spell truly racking up those numbers.

Unfortunately, due to his injury, Martinelli missed out on Carlo Ancelotti’s recent Brazil squad for the international break. Breaking into the Brazil attack is always hard, but Martinelli would have made a case if he were fit.

So, what are Al-Hilal doing differently from Arsenal?

Firstly, Gabriel Martinelli plays in a different position at Al-Hilal. It is hard to pin him down to one position because he fluctuates across the front line throughout matches, but he starts on the right wing.

This is because Crysencio Summerville occupies the left wing.

He still plays on the left sometimes, in the same way he did for Arsenal all the time, but Al-Hilal mostly use him out on the right.

Martinelli’s side sits at the top of the Saudi Pro League, and their tactical versatility is a major reason for it. There is rarely a game that goes by where they aren’t switching up their formation in some way, and Martinelli’s tactical evolvement under Mikel Arteta gave him the tools to lean into this.

However, the main improvement Martinelli has made has been his involvement in goals. This is a side to his game that Arsenal never saw.

Arsenal fans would have loved to see six goals in six games from Martinelli, but his form never truly lived up to that in North London.

Partly, the difference between teams is to blame for this. We see it a lot when players come to Arsenal, and their goal numbers drop: it’s because Arteta doesn’t prioritise explosive attacking play…

at least not yet, anyway.

Al-Hilal are set up to give Martinelli free rein in the attack, and he uses it to his advantage. He is playing with serious confidence, because he just loves the game of football.

Al-Hilal realised something about Martinelli that Arsenal forgot over the years: if you give the boy wings, he will fly.

Hopefully, Martinelli continues to be successful for his new club. Despite no longer being a registered Arsenal player, Gooners will always root for his success, no matter where he ends up.