Mikel Arteta has been urged to drop Gabriel Martinelli and provides Max Dowman more starts after Arsenal\u2019s disappointing 2-1 loss to Bournemouth.<\/p>\n
Martinelli was returned to the starting lineup on Saturday after his impressive midweek cameo, which saw him arrange Kai Havertz\u2019s winner against Sporting CP.<\/p>\n
However the Brazilian endured a forgettable afternoon in north London, touching the ball just seven times in the primary half before being replaced by Leandro Trossard shortly after the break.<\/p>\n
Arsenal\u2019s substitutes, which also included Dowman and Eberechi Eze, did little to wrestle back momentum for Mikel Arteta\u2019s side, and Alex Scott\u2019s strike ultimately condemned the Gunners to their third defeat in 4 matches in all competitions.<\/p>\n
After the sport, former Premier League striker Jay Bothroyd questioned why Arteta opted to begin Martinelli given his indifferent form for big swathes of this season.<\/p>\n
Chatting with Sky Sports<\/a>, he said: \u2018After I checked out that starting team today, I used to be considering to myself, \u2018okay, Martinelli made an assist in the course of the week. It was an excellent assist. But he hasn\u2019t been adequate this 12 months.\u2019<\/p>\n As a substitute of Martinelli, Bothroyd urged Arteta to offer more starts to 16-year-old Dowman to assist Arsenal rediscover their attacking spark and recover from the road within the league.<\/p>\n \u2018So far as I\u2019m concerned, Max Dowman needs to begin,\u2019 he added. \u2018I don\u2019t care no more. Arsenal must go over the road. <\/p>\n \u2018That child, when he plays, he\u2019s fearless. He desires to ball. He goes at players. He might lose it, but he goes at them.\u2019<\/p>\n Bothroyd also criticised Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres for post-match comments by which he suggested that a \u2018dry pitch\u2019 had affected Arsenal\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n \u2018Listen, to me, that\u2019s just silliness,\u2019 Bothroyd added. \u2018I used to be at the sport, I saw the pitch. The pitch looked perfect to me. <\/p>\n \u2018The sprinklers were on before the sport. They were on at half-time. Each teams actually play on that very same pitch. I don\u2019t know for those who know that.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Each teams play on it, and Bournemouth took the opportunities once they got here. I hear what he\u2019s saying when he talks about being positive going forward, because I believe in this example, you form of have to take a look at that, but at the identical time, you actually need to analyse what happened today since it was really poor.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I believe the xG (expected goals) was 0.19 in open play at home. That’s just not adequate for a team of the calibre of players that Arsenal have. It\u2019s just way off. It\u2019s just not adequate.<\/p>\n \u2018Too persistently they get right into a position where they are only knocking the ball across the pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Raya is literally touching the ball. He has the ball at his feet, probably greater than every other player on the pitch. And clearly, you\u2019re 80 yards from goal. I don\u2019t get that.\u2019<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Follow Metro Sport for the most recent news on ![\"Arsenal](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270859946.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=594\")
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