Having been schooled under Pep Guardiola, you would expect Mikel Arteta to do a few things similar to the Manchester City boss at Arsenal.
After all, the 38-year-old was at the Etihad Stadium alongside Guardiola from 2016 to 2019, so he must’ve learned a tremendous amount.
One thing he has seemingly learned from the 50-year-old is how to help young prodigies fulfil their potential effectively.
We’ve seen Bukayo Saka blossom under Arteta this season, transforming into a consistency machine after flashes of brilliance last term.
However, forget the 4-cap England international for a moment.
Let’s focus on Arteta’s work with Gabriel Martinelli, as it is eerily similar to how Guardiola treated Phil Foden.
Some Arsenal fans recently begged the Spaniard to start his Brazilian wonderkid, who has only started three Premier League games this season.
However, Arteta seems to be following a similar approach to Guardiola.
Back in October 2019, when Guardiola was facing similar pressure to play Foden, he deflected attention away from the youngster and blamed himself and only himself for the prodigy’s lack of action.
The Manchester Evening News quote him as saying: “I know, he deserves to play. I want to give him minutes, I’m unfair to him. I’m sorry.”
Interestingly, when Arteta was asked about Martinelli’s lack of game-time, he also blamed himself.
Football London quote him as saying: “No, if anything it’s my fault, he has done everything perfect.”
It seems that Arteta is fully aware of Martinelli’s abilities, but is in no rush to use him just yet, showing the same patience Guardiola did towards Foden.
It might be frustrating for Arsenal fans right now, but they can take encouragement from the level Foden is playing at right now.
The 20-year-old has a remarkable 20 goal involvements in 37 appearances this season, in the form of 11 goals and nine assists.
Martinelli’s time will come – Arsenal fans just have to trust the process.
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