A resurfaced clip of Pep Guardiola talking tactics may explain why Gabriel Jesus has been struggling at Arsenal lately.
The Manchester City boss made an appearance on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football show after his side clinched the Premier League title in 2018, and spoke in detail about a philosophy his then-assistant manager Mikel Arteta had been drumming into City's attackers.
He explained that teams who over-rely on their centre forward to win them games tend to drop a lot of points, noting that in his side, every attacking player is expected to pitch in with goal contributions. "Mikel Arteta helped [our attackers] to make a lot of actions here [towards the box], [it's usually] one against and one," Guardiola told Gary Neville.
"We always say to the winger, when you control the ball and your shape is good, go, go! It doesn't matter if you lose the ball. In the end, if they have the quality to dribble they have to use it."
The Spaniard added: "It's important for a team to not only depend on the striker to score goals, but also the wingers are able to score goals and make assists. When you have that, you will win a lot of games. When you just focus on the striker to score a goal you will drop points."
Premier League odds and betting tips
Jesus, who joined Arsenal from City in 2022, has been struggling for form and goals this season, with just four strikes in 26 Premier League matches to his name so far. He was brought in to add some much-needed firepower up front, but with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz regularly finding the back of the net (as well as the latter nicking his spot in the front three) Jesus has, in effect, become persona non grata.
The Brazilian has been primarily limited to substitute appearances since returning from injury in February, and there are whispers he could even be moved on in the summer, with Arsenal considering swoops for the likes of Ivan Toney and Viktor Gyokeres.
Mikel Arteta spent several years as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Man City (Mark Leech/Offside/Getty Images)In total, Jesus has scored 19 goals in 68 games for the Gunners. While far from a terrible return, his goals-per-game ratio (0.28) is considerably worse than it was across his six-year stint at the Etihad Stadium (0.40). There he netted 95 goals in 236 matches, despite spending the vast majority of his spell there playing second-fiddle to Sergio Aguero.
DON'T SCRAP REPLAYS!
and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
