Mikel Arteta said he adores Gabriel Martinelli after the Brazilian scored within 36 seconds of coming on to set Arsenal up for victory in their Champions League opener at Athletic Bilbao. The head coach also praised the collective spirit within the squad, insisted that it “hurts” when he has to leave a player on the bench, and revealed that he has embraced terminology from rugby union, preferring to call those he brings on to the pitch “finishers” rather than “substitutes”.
It was still 0-0 at San Mamés when Martinelli was introduced, but Arteta said he could see in his eyes that he was ready and with his first touch he dashed away and beat Unai Simón to score the first in the 72nd minute. He then played the pass that set up Leandro Trossard, another substitute, to secure victory in the 87th.
“He fully deserved it. I adore Gabriel: his attitude, his commitment, his positivity, what he’s willing to do for the team,” Arteta said. “I was sure that Gabby was going to react like that. He has such a mentality. He’s constantly willing to learn, very demanding with himself and hopefully that gives him the confidence again because he is an outstanding player. I looked on the bench, I looked at him, and in his eyes I could see that he was ready. Leo as well. I think that’s going to help us a lot for the future.
“That shows that they are at least equally important or more important as anyone in this squad. That the finishers are going to be more important this season than the starters.”
Of the way the team embraced Martinelli after the goal, Arteta said: “That’s the spirit. That’s why I really enjoy every single day working with them and being part of this team, because the way they look after each other is genuine, they really want the best for each other. And they recognise someone that works every single day [as] Gabby does. I think it would mean a lot to him.
“It’s always very difficult emotionally to leave players out. I know how much they want to play this competition and every time you do the lineup you are disappointing a lot of players. They know how I feel about them, so they know it hurts me. The only thing I can do is my job. I have to make decisions based on increasing the probability of winning football matches. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong.”
Asked if he had borrowed the use of “finishers” from rugby union, Arteta said: “Yes, I did and I love it, because I don’t like other words to describe the players. And I think, as the game is developing, they’re going to be more important in many minutes. So the quality of the minutes, I think, is going to dictate the quality of our season, for sure.”
