“I can be a bit more greedy” – Arsenal star trying to be more selfish with ball, teammates tell him he’s ‘too nice’

TNT Sports Brasil finally released their full interview with Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli.

Following the many bits they published in the past few days, we now finally could take a look at the whole conversation, which lasted nearly half an hour.

Apart from all the other quotes that already came out, there’s now Martinelli talking about some details of his games at Arsenal.

The attacker was quizzed by journalist Fred Caldeira about potentially getting more greedy in open plays, as he’s often looking for teammates to make the pass.

“Well, Aaron and Jorginho said that to me in the Burnley game, even against Porto: ‘Hey, sometimes you’re too nice to the team, you want to pass’. I say if I see a player in a better position, I try to pass. Because if I was in that position, I’d want the ball,” Martinelli told TNT Sports.

“So I think that sometimes I can be a bit more greedy, but that’s up to each individual. And sometimes on the pitch it’s very fast, if you think about two things, you get confused and end up doing neither. So I think that maybe I can be a bit more greedy for myself, sometimes scoring more goals. But I think for now I’m doing what I think is right on the pitch and for now it’s working.”

The player also talked about his relationship with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, sending big compliments towards the manager and claiming he finds the solution for all the team’s problems.

Martinelli even revealed that the coach speaks Portuguese, although there’s one small communication issue in the team. That’s the fact that there are three Gabriels in the squad, so when there’s an order on the pitch, they don’t know who the Spaniard is speaking to. That’s something they need to figure out between themselves.

“Ah, it’s complicated sometimes. In training it’s easier, but in the game it’s sometimes complicated. Because Gabi, Jesus, plays up front with me, but Magalhães also plays on my side of the pitch, on the left.

“So sometimes he [Arteta] says ‘close up’, I don’t know if it’s me or Gabi, so if he says close up, we both close up. Sometimes it gets confusing, but most of the time we get it right. Sometimes he says Jesus, but I think most of the time everyone in the club says Gabi. Only Magalhães they say Big Gabi.”