Ian Wright condemns ‘desperate’ Arsenal player following Wolves victory

Ian Wright's comments on Gabriel Martinelli have sparked controversy after Arsenal's win against Wolves, with the former player criticising the young star for his apparent 'desperation to do well' that he feels may have had a negative impact on the team.

Mikel Arteta’s side made an impressive start to the new Premier League season, clinching a routine 2-0 win thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.

Following back-to-back second-place finishes in the Premier League, Arsenal are aiming to go one better and finally end Manchester City’s dominance and lift the trophy for the first time since 2004.

While the Gunners were ahead at the interval, Wright was disappointed his former club were not two goals up, especially after Arsenal wasted an opening on the stroke of half-time.

Martinelli got in behind the Wolves defence but chose to shoot from a narrow angle instead of laying it off to Declan Rice who had pushed forward and found room in the box.

Wright was critical of Martinelli’s decision-making and believes he was ‘desperate’ to score due to his ‘poor season’ last year and the competition he faces from Leandro Trossard.

‘This one here is a bit disappointing for me because he [Martinelli] has got the opportunity to cut back to Declan Rice,’ Wright said on Premier League Productions.

‘Just lay that into Declan, go 2-0 up and go in at half-time. I know that he’s desperate to do well because he has got Trossard on the bench. He had a poor season last year, Martinelli.

‘But he’s trying to impress upon the manager, but give that back to Declan Rice, 2-0, and then you probably get your goal in the second half.’

While Arsenal were not at their scintillating best against Wolves, Arteta was pleased with his team’s performance, describing it as a ‘job well done’.

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‘In the first game there’s always that uncertainty about how you’re going to react, especially against a difficult opponent,’ Arteta said.

‘We scored two, kept a clean sheet. Job done, score two, clean sheet, win. Win in any context. You’ll have better days, or worse days.

‘The opposition will guide you to play in a specific type of way. Today we won in a convincing way, but probably in a different way because it’s what the game requires.’

Asked about Arsenal’s title aspirations, Arteta added: ‘What I’ve seen is the willingness.

‘Whether we’re gonna do it [win the title] or not, we’ll have to show it every day in how we play and the results that we take away.’

Arsenal return to action next Saturday against Aston Villa, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season and opened their 2024-25 campaign with a 2-1 win over West Ham.

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