What has become a benefit of Arsenal having so much quality in a number of positions has also created a problem regarding the competition for places and the struggle to ensure everyone worthy of game time is getting it.
Gabriel Martinelli has made the left flank his own and has become one of the first names on the Arsenal team-sheet thanks to his energy and goalscoring threat.
This has however had a negative knock-on effect on Emile Smith-Rowe whose game time has diminished in the wake of the Brazilian’s breakthrough. Besides the 0-0 home draw to Burnley with Arsenal down to the bare bones, the 21-year-old hadn’t started a league game since the 3-2 away loss to Manchester United at the start of December.
However, Martinelli’s red card against Wolves has given Smith-Rowe an opportunity to regain his starting place in the side when the Brazilian will be suspended for the visit of Brentford next week.
However, Smith-Rowe could end up not being the sole beneficiary of Martinelli’s absence.
Since Martinelli came into the fold on a regular basis, Kieran Tierney has not looked the same offensive threat as he did for much of last season or at the beginning of this.
Interestingly, speaking in May of last year, Mikel Arteta hinted that the connection between Martinelli and Tierney was something that needed more time to develop.
“Yeah, it is a connection there. I think having Granit behind him helps him in a way because he’s more in the line, in the last line, on the left when he is more comfortable,” explained Arteta.
“With Kieran, it’s a little bit different. Those relationships we have to feel.”
Smith Rowe scored and earned an assist against Tottenham in the north London derby earlier this season.
Tierney was the left-back that day and had one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt which massively contributed to the derby victory.
As for why Smith Rowe fits better with both Tierney and the backup left-back Nuno Tavares, who partnered the England international for his three goals against Aston Villa, Leicester City and Watford, it can be put down to the difference in styles of the wide men.
Tierney thrives on overlapping his associative winger, getting crosses into the box and sticking to the touchline.
Martinelli is a winger who prefers to play much closer to the touchline than Smith Rowe. It is evident in the two below heat maps how much Smith Rowe prefers to come inside and play narrower, opening up the space with Tierney to overlap.
Whereas Martinelli will stay wider than Smith Rowe, making it less open for Tierney to overlap the Brazilian and therefore the Scot is less impactful on the games.
It will be interesting to see against Brentford, where Smith-Rowe and Tierney are expected to partner up again if the 24-year-old full-back has a comparatively better performance compared to his recent displays.
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