Mikel Arteta suggests he's going to start two Arsenal players together very soon
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta suggested in his press conference yesterday that Gabriel Martinelli and Fabio Vieira will start games together very soon.
The Gunners had a fantastic evening at the Emirates yesterday. Martinelli’s brace and goals from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard sealed a 4-0 win over Everton, and they’re now five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
Martinelli combined very well with Leandro Trossard last night, but Arteta thinks he’ll do even better when Vieria plays with him.
Mikel Arteta suggests Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli and Fabio Vieira will start together very soon
Martinelli and Vieira have struck a bromance of sorts at Arsenal ever since the Portuguese midfielder joined the club.
The two players are always pictured together in training and they even have their own celebrations whenever one of them scores.
Martinelli is a regular for Arsenal, but Vieira is mostly just a substitute in the Premier League. However, Arteta may have just hinted that he’s planning to use both of them together from the start very soon.
Speaking about chemistry between players, Arteta told Arsenal.com: “I think relationships are built in teams and that chemistry comes naturally and when you see him (Martinelli) play with Fabio more together, he has even more chemistry because they love each other so much.
“And they have that way of looking at each other and understanding what’s going to have.”
Asked if Vieira and Martinelli’s chemistry will be utilised in the coming weeks, Arteta said: “Yes, for sure!”
Where could Vieira play?
Vieira is a hugely versatile player.
The Porto old-boy is naturally a number 10, but he can play as a box-to-box midfielder, as a false nine and even out wide. That gives Arteta plenty of options, but we think the Gunners boss has made up his mind.
Vieira replaced Granit Xhaka when he came on last night and occupied the left-central-midfield role. He’s a lot more creative and attack-minded than the Swiss international, and he could do a fine job there.
To add to that, Martinelli plays on the left side too. That could be where Arteta plans to use the two players’ chemistry to bring the best out of both of them in the coming months.
