For many years, a win in Manchester was difficult to imagine, and now, winning isn’t enough.

Mikel Arteta admitted his players weren’t entirely satisfied with their performance against the Red Devils, which was to be expected after a very lacklustre display. 

Poor Gabriel Martinelli moment stood out vs Manchester United

Some players were worse than others against United, that’s for sure.

Nicklas Bendtner believed only four Arsenal players did enough against Ruben Amorim’s side, signalling that the others have a lot of work to do.

One player whose performance could have immediate repercussions is Gabriel Martinelli, who was so poor against United.

The Brazilian completed only three passes in his 60 minutes on the pitch, but it wasn’t what the 24-year-old did on the ball that was the biggest issue.

Analysing the victory on his YouTube channel, former Gunner Adrian Clarke revealed a moment involving Martinelli that ‘really stood out’ for the wrong reasons. 

“There’s a moment that really stood out to me,” Clarke said, showing an image of a passage of play that happened in the 37th minute at Old Trafford. 

The freeze-frame from the game showed Martin Odegaard breaking on the ball centrally, and Martinelli out to his left.

“There’s a three vs three, and you see the arrow there on Gabriel Martinelli, that’s what I wanted him to do, just pull out left, what that would do is force Leny Yoro to make a decision: does he go out with him, does he stay narrow to support?

“Either way, it opens up space instead of narrowing the angle.”

Clarke wanted Martinelli to make a wide run for Odegaard to play him through, but instead, the forward made an aimless decision.

“Unfortunately, he [Martinelli], makes a run down the inside, looking to get the ball down the middle, and it’s really, really tight, it’s an eye of the needle pass for Odegaard.

“We saw so many examples of this, the choice of pass, the choice of run, it just wasn’t quite there.”

Instead of making a move that would stretch United’s defence and give Odegaard a simple ball to play, Martinelli ran into a crowded central channel, which was one of many frustrating decisions the Brazil international made. 

Arsenal desperately need an upgrade on the left

A failed bicycle kick was arguably the most frustrating example of Martinelli’s poor decision-making against United.

As Clarke highlighted, the winger made the wrong runs, but he also made poor passing and shooting choices. 

The weaknesses on the left side are not set to go at Arsenal until an upgrade on Martinelli is signed, as it’s so clear that the 24-year-old needs competition. 

Whether it’s complacency or merely a case of already reaching full potential, at present, quite devastatingly, Martinelli needs to be replaced.

His performance against Man United and the list of examples of poor decision-making must give Arteta some food for thought while the summer transfer window is open.

Time is running out, particularly as Arsenal want to sanction exits before arrivals, but it’s already clear that the Gunners are lacking quite considerably going forward.