Gabriel Jesus won a penalty for Arsenal, but watched from the touchline as his substitute scored. The Brazilian joined the Gunners as a key player but was relegated to a supporting role in their title challenge.
Even last season, of Along with Oleksandr Zinchenko, how and why Arsenal went from a team that wasn't good enough to qualify for the Champions League to one that challenged for the title, and who was arguably their best player throughout most of that season. People were given a clear reason to explain why they did so. There are doubts as to whether the Gunners can outperform Gabriel Jesus.
With Erling Haaland depriving the Premier League of a sufficient supply of match balls, 11 goals in 26 games was not good enough for the central striker, but there is a lot of competition among Arsenal fans for Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo. – Although he would lose the popularity battle with Saka, as he did at Manchester City, he was given a winger position, but with Brazil, Jesus finds himself in a place he doesn't want to be.
“When I chose to move from City to Arsenal, obviously Edu and Arteta spoke to me and I made it clear that I wanted to play as number nine. That was Arsenal's idea. It was about playing loose at No. 9.”
That is no longer the case, despite Arsenal not signing a 'suitable striker' in the interim. Kai Havertz Now it's the preferred option to get to the front. The goal at the Amex – a 'proper striker' tap-in at the near post – is for good reason after the former Chelsea man contributed eight goals in his last seven Premier League games. Had Jesus finished poorly, he could have easily gotten a few more assists.
After Bert Verbruggen's wonderful shot from the edge of the penalty area that rounded the post, Jesus headed home well from Havertz's superb cross, but he had to do better in the second half. He scored another goal in a difficult situation. These were moments that reinforced the argument that Mikel Arteta is not communicating as much to contributors as the other options available to him.
Few would now place Jesus anywhere other than fifth in Arsenal's forward pecking order. He is clearly better than Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson, but not as good as Saka, Havertz, Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. An Arsenal team that features Jesus more than any of the other four players now hardly looks like a typical Arsenal, with the Brazilian a supporting player in their title challenge.
His continued casting in the role was not helped at all by Trossard running away from half-time to put victory in doubt. The Belgian's name will be in the headlines after he silenced the home fans with a smart finish before being booed by the home fans against Verbruggen. But without Jesus, Arsenal might not have won this game.
Leandro Trossard celebrates Arsenal's goal against Brighton.
Perhaps they did. If he had not run towards Tariq Lamptey and won a penalty, Tariq Lamptey would have received the ball but increased his personnel and the Gunners would probably have broken the deadlock in a different way. . It looked as if it was time to step up another gear. But it was an even battle up until the point where Jesus pulled out the challenge — when a season's contribution is ultimately judged by the public by the number of goals and assists a player provided, what counts as a significant intervention in the game? It has no meaning.
Few forwards are exempt from that initial assessment, and Jesus will never enjoy the same exemption as Roberto Firmino. That's partly because he knows he has it, having scored over 20 goals in a row for Manchester City and averaging one goal or assist every season. It was 102 minutes, but his score, which is calculated by subtracting expected goals from goals scored this season, is -1.6, which is the worst of any Arsenal player other than Emile Smith Rowe (-1.7). ing.
He gets a chance but misses it. Like the back post header. If it were Martinelli or Trossard, that wouldn't even be a chance. They wouldn't have attacked the ball like Jesus. Therefore, it should be seen as rather positive, but of course it is not. We think about what he missed, not the fact that he was there to miss.
This was a decent performance from Jesus. He rarely plays poorly. But it wasn't memorable, and the fact that he remains on the wing as he is now, and will continue to do so if he plays at all, means he's not particularly involved in the match. It will only increase the feeling that they are not doing so, or that they are not. This season, he has only been a supporting character since joining as the main character less than two years ago.
Read more: Garnacho, Jesus, Onana: A bad omen for all Premier League clubs
