Rio Ferdinand praises one Arsenal star who has ‘ridiculous confidence’
BT Sport pundit and former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on one of the Arsenal players who really impressed him during the clash with Bournemouth in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Monday night.
The Gunners were eager to secure another positive result after last week’s remarkable 2-2 draw at Chelsea which saw them come from behind twice to level the score, despite playing with ten men for much of the game following the sending off of David Luiz.
Mikel Arteta did not make too many changes to the starting eleven for the trip to the Vitality stadium and that meant Gabriel Martinelli, who has been in red-hot form in recent weeks, retained his place in the team.
The teenager has been an absolute revelation for the Gunners after his move to the club last summer for a fee much lesser than what was paid for record signing Nicolas Pepe.
Martinelli was involved in a goal yet again as he set up the opener from Bukayo Saka as Arsenal went on to defeat Bournemouth 2-1 to secure a spot in the fifth round of the competition.
After the final whistle, Rio Ferdinand was full of praise for the Brazilian, who has gone from a youthful option on the bench to one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players.
“That nonchalance is too much,” the former United player said, as quoted by talkSPORT
“He’s playing with ridiculous confidence at the moment.
“That comes from the manager, it comes from opportunity and from taking it. He’s quicker than I actually first thought when I first saw him.
“His decision making – that’s the thing that sets him apart, he very rarely gives the ball away and he’s somebody who wants to bring other people into it but you can see the end product is about getting a goal and getting a shot off.”
