Gabriel Magalhaes netted his second of the season on Sunday, with fellow defender Riccardo Calafiori also scoring. Having defenders net is always nice, but it should be complimentary to the attackers hitting big figures. Sadly, in our case, defenders scoring is often necessary.
Gabriel's fellow Brazilians and Gabriel's have been letting us down somewhat for a long time now:
Goals in all club competitions 2024
Gabriel Jesus - 1 (30/01/2024 vs Nottingham Forest)
Gabriel Martinelli - 4 (last on 04/03/2024 vs Sheffield United)
Gabriel Magalhaes - 5 (last on Sunday vs Manchester City)
PL Goals since the start of last season
Gabriel Jesus - 4
Gabriel Martinelli - 6
Gabriel Magalhaes - 6
17 year old Ethan Nwaneri has already doubled Jesus' 2024 tally in one start and a few minutes.
I think we all knew when we signed Jesus he wasn't going to be a prolific scorer, but his seasons PL totals of 11 and 4 (plus 4 in CL) are probably lower than most expected. He can point to injuries, but he did play 26 and 27 games. For a team that were chasing the title in both, and scored as a team a large number - especially the 91 last season - we have to expect more.
Martinelli had a real stand-out season in 22/23, but that is now looking like an outlier. The 6 he hit last season matched the 6 in 21/22 which was the year he really broke into the first team.
While Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz continue to have high goal contributions, and Leandro Trossard contributes despite less game time, the output of the 2 Brazilians needs to drastically improve. With Raheem Sterling added to the squad they may not have as many chances.
Hopefully one or both can break their multi-month drought on Saturday and kick-start their goal scoring stats.
The "Gabigol" problem.
posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago
At the moment we’ve found a cheat code with Saka’s corner and Gabriel’s headed goal. How long will this last, who knows. But it’s almost impossible to defend when Saka hits it on the money, terrific corner taker.
Jesus and Martinelli need to get it together asap. Sterling has the ability and intelligence to score and assist on a regular basis. I can see Sterling, like Trossard contributing despite not playing much.
posted 3 weeks ago
I had no idea it was quite that bad! Well I suppose I did actually, but it's much worse when the figures are laid out like that!
Havertz has obviously secured the number 9 spot, Saka on the right, so it's up to Martinelli, Trossard, Sterling and Jesus to fight it out over the left spot.
Martinelli's work rate has really shone through in the last few games. Let's hope that's given his confidence a boost which in turn improves his goal scoring output. I have a feeling that's how Arteta sees things, but how long can we let this play out?
posted 3 weeks ago
I think everybody's given up on Gabby j, he himself even looks like he knows the team has moved on from him.
Martinelli looked better on Sunday, I just think we should wait until injured players on that left hand side are back. His general performances haven't been bad, but as the article shows, his finishing stinks at the moment. Needs to be given the ball in better areas to rediscover his goalscoring touch.
posted 3 weeks ago
Needs to be given the ball in better areas to rediscover his goalscoring touch.
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Marti is getting clear chances, but his decision-making has been awful. Sterling needs to start now.