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Much has been made of Gabriel Jesus’ versatility but Mikel Arteta already knows how the Brazilian will feature in his setup at Arsenal.
THE LOWDOWN: A PROMISING CAMPAIGN AWAITS
It might be just pre-season but Gabriel Jesus is already proving to be far too comfortable in his new role at Arsenal. In search of a striker for goals upfront, the Gunners splashed £45m on the 25-year-old to secure his switch from Manchester City.
Jesus has seemingly fit in at home with Arsenal, scoring seven pre-season goals, with his most recent outing yielding a brilliant hattrick in the 6-0 rout against Sevilla in the Emirates Cup on Sunday.
Boasting the ability to play through the centre and on either side of attack, many have speculated that Mikel Arteta could explore the possibility of playing two centre-forwards upfront. In all fairness, the Spaniard did try this out in pre-season with Nketiah and Jesus and it worked out pretty well.
However, Arteta has played down talk of Jesus’ versatility and insists he already knows how the Brazilian will play in his setup for the 2022/23 campaign.
THE LATEST: ARTETA HAS MADE HIS DECISION
Gabriel Jesus brings an extra dimension into Arsenal’s attack and his quick movement upfront has made the Gunners look sharper, as we’ve seen in pre-season.
Speaking after the Emirates Cup victory, Mikel Arteta praised the Brazilian’s work-rate and his movement on and off the ball.
The Spaniard said, as per the club’s website: “What are seeing is that everybody, not just Gabby, plays at that intensity and that willingness to win the ball, to promote mistakes and to play in the opponent’s half as much as possible. You cannot do that if players at the front are walking, they are not tracking, they don’t have that instinct and that intention to provoke things that we want and Gabby is phenomenal at that.”
Speaking on Jesus’ best position, Arteta added: “His versatility is well known. Now we are using him as a nine, he can play as a winger, off the left and the right. You can play with two strikes as we have done in pre-season as well and change the shape a little bit. He gives us a lot of flexibility.”
THE LATEST: ARTETA HAS MADE HIS DECISION
Having worked with Jesus during his earlier coaching stint at Manchester City, Arteta already knows the Brazilian’s qualities more than most. It is safe to say he is more than certain that the 25-year-old will be the best fit for the number 9 role.
Playing with Nketiah and Jesus upfront will bring some unbalance in attack so it is a logical choice to stick with the Brazilian as the designated striker.
However, in the event that Arsenal find themselves in a situation where they need to chase goals, Arteta will be able to call on two quick forwards to help that cause.
The early signs are promising for Gabriel Jesus and fans will now be hoping he replicates his pre-season form when the season kickstarts proper.
