Arsenal legend Theo Walcott says Gabriel Martinelli must âimproveâ one aspect of his game after his âmassive momentâ in the 2-0 loss against Bournemouth.
Mikel Artetaâs side suffered their first Premier League defeat of the 2024/25 campaign on Saturday as they were beaten 2-0 by Bournemouth.
The Gunners were dealt an early blow in this game as defender William Saliba was sent off for denying Bournemouth striker Evanilson a goal-scoring opportunity. He was initially shown a yellow card but this was upgraded to a red following a VAR review.
Arteta made a defensive change following this blow as Raheem Sterling was sacrificed for Jakub Kiwior, but Arsenal were far from their best as they were deservedly beaten.Â
Ryan Christie broke the deadlock from a corner with around 20 minutes to go before Justin Kluivert converted a penalty to take the game away from Arsenal.
Before Bournemouth took the lead, Martinelli had a huge chance to score but his shot from inside the penalty area was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Walcott thinks Martinelli âcould improveâ with âthese opportunitiesâ after this âmassive momentâ.
âThis side of Martinelli where we always feel he could improve these opportunities, which he practices endlessly,â Walcott said on Sky Sports.
âAnd for me, he gives the goalkeeper a very clear way heâs going to go straight away. He opens up his body too soon.â
Walcott added: âOf course, itâs a great save, but look, this is Arsenal, they want to win the league. Itâs a massive moment for not just Arsenal, but for Martinelli himself.
âYou donât have to overthink it. I think at times, Martinelli, when he has a bit more time on the ball, he actually overthinks it instead of actually doing something instinctive.
âAnd I think thatâs probably what heâs down for at times with his goalscoring record at the moment.â
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Walcott also ânever felt Arsenal were in controlâ as their âsluggishâ players âstruggled from minute oneâ.
âThey struggled from minute one. It was like they were still on international duty, locked away. They were strangers,â Walcott said.
âThey lost the ball too often, a lot of arms thrown around, a lot of frustration.
âThere wasnât the free-flowing football that weâre used to seeing from them. There was a lot of arguing with each other, and thatâs not what we want to see. So theyâll want to dive away from this result as quickly as possible.
âI never felt Arsenal were in control. They felt sluggish coming out of the blocks. It was like they hadnât had time to work together. They were second to everything, they didnât look like they were hungry to get a result. It was like they were going through the motions.â
