You may have noticed that Gabriel Martinelli and Fabio Vieira have already developed a very close relationship off the pitch.
It seems every time club photographers Stuart MacFarlane and David Price point their cameras at one of them, the other gets in on the act.
That was very much the case at the weekend when Martinelli raced over to complete a carefully choreographed goal celebration with Vieira after the Portuguese midfielder had opened his Arsenal account with a 25-yard screamer against Brentford.
At the final whistle, they indulged in more of the same before facing the Arsenal media team to talk about the result and growing friendship.
“We are always together!” Gabi said. “He’s a very good guy and everyone loves him. What I can do to help him, I will do and not just him, but everyone in the squad, I will do my best to help. With him, it’s easier because he speaks Portuguese.
“It’s easier. What I can do I will do to help him, he’s a nice guy and a very good friend.”
Speaking later in his native tongue to ESPN Brasil (translated by Sport Witness via Mais Futebol), Vieira made clear he is thankful for his teammate’s help.
“I need to improve my English and he helps me a lot with the language. Having Brazilians and Portuguese in the team helped me. It’s people that speak the same language. I don’t know much English, but I’m learning and with their help, it’s getting easier.”
Vieira also took a moment to reflect on his start at the Emirates. Sidelined by an injury that was discovered in his Arsenal medical, he’s had to bide his time for a Premier League debut, but announced himself in style at the weekend following a brief cameo against Manchester United.
“Obviously it was very good for me as I arrived here injured, unfortunately,” he said.
“I had some time sidelined. Returning to competition costs a little bit, but step by step, I trained, evolved and grew. Now I’m here, I scored the first goal and I’m very happy about it.”
Vieira is also enjoying the fact Arsenal’s fans have adapted the chant of namesake and predecessor Patrick, just for him.
“It’s really good to hear that. It’s a sign that the fans are liking me and what I am as a player. Feeling their support is fantastic.”
It’s a general togetherness.
I presume everyone in the Arsenal fan base realises this doesn’t happen by accident.
I just look at how things were handled at management level in Salibas case…….. not one thought for themselves, only acted in the best interest of the player and the club. Master stroke by Edu/Mikel/ Josh…..
I can trust you with the future of this Club..
Such a turnaround from previous seasons. Emery in particular wasn’t great at English and couldn’t bring the players together and even Wenger struggled in his later years. Hard not to love how the team is together and how young they are, so should grow over the next few seasons.
Yes, that’s true. It’s down to the age of the players and the mix of signings and “home-grown”. Wenger relied far too much in his later years on (often) expensive signings on (often) overly high wages – and too many turned out to be expensive flops at the end of the day, as we know to our cost. That improved a little under Emery, I guess, but not that much and the language barrier wasn’t really overcome. The result was that it appeared that there was little team spirit when really needed. How many times did Arsenal simply fold under… Read more »
Who are all these expensive flops that Wenger signed with the possible exception of Mustafi.?
True, though Lucas Perez cost 17m and wasn’t given much of a chance, and lacazette was arguably a flop given the fee.
Just what they don’t know is that once Cedric is fit enough to run he will be in every picture they take
LOL
“Ødegaard was out injured; a £35m signing replaced him. That says it all about their depth.”
Thomas Frank.
I was really interested in Frank’s comments. Pre-match, you could dismiss his praise of Arsenal as something a manager is bound to say about an upcoming opponent. And maybe his post-match comments were *in part* to minimise the impact the bad defeat had on his own team’s morale. But he really sounded like, having watched Arsenal and prepared his side as best he could, he genuinely felt Arsenal are playing the best football in the league right now, or at least apart from the UAE machine.
We have become the most smart recruiters in the Premier League. What a turnaround.
The Academy should get a shout here too …
Yeah! I don’t think people realize what’s coming yet. Soon, there will be an influx of young players from the academy into the first team. You can just smell it coming.
The Bfg effect
“FUSION-HA!”
Was going to say that looked like Goku and Trunks
Gotens and trunks!
Haha. I wonder if they are fans. They did one hand only though so maybe just a coincidence. Otherwise they need more training before they come up against Haalin Buu
I am interested in knowing whether the celebration was the Goku and Vegeta one, or was it just a heart symbol. Prefer the first one though 😁
Trunks and Goten Fusion.
Vieira is definitely a solid replacement for Odegard when he is injured, but I think for us to move to the next level we need a solid replacement for Jesus when he is injured. Eddie is a great player, he will give 100%, but he isn’t in the same league as Jesus. I feel with sp*rs if Kane has an off day, Son and Richardson are their top strikers and can cover the goals. Next summer we need another Jesus.
I rather feel we need a different type of player altogether. Maybe a giroud 2.0
“Next summer we need another Jesus.” Not that simple. It’s been over a couple of a thousand years, and God hasn’t said anything about having another son.
We have a Mohammed. Maybe we should sign Moses just to cover all the angles.
And possibly a big lizard up front to cover the Scientology angle while we’re at it 👍🏻
Man everytime Nkietiah has come on this season you don’t notice much of a drop in what he’s doing, some games he’s really changed up the momentum. He’s beating his man with strength, winning balls he’s got no right, and pressing relentlessly. I’m happy having him as our no.2 and seeing how heigh his ceiling really is, albeit if it comes at a risk. He deserves the chance after what he’s shown.
He’s certainly done a bit of work over the summer but I can see why people would be calling for a giroud type player.
Florian Balogan has us covered for Jesus 2.0. He has been breathtaking in Ligue 1 so far this season. Class apart.
I would love if Balagun or Eddie can get regular games and smash 25+ goals a season for us. That would be the dream. The loan season in France is great for him. 🤞
Eddie is the second coming from the clubs perspective. I think Balogun will be given the opportunity as third striker. We have more important positions to fill: 2 midfielders, LCB, RW, and LW.
Welcome boy.
We love you all.
What a way to introduce your skills