Ian Wright says Arsenal are ‘missing’ Gabriel Jesus and when he returns from injury, then it will ‘fire up’ someone like Gabriel Martinelli even more.
Arsenal secured a 1-0 win over Leicester City over the weekend, with Martinelli scoring the winner, but Wright still feels that Mikel Arteta’s men are struggling down their left-hand side and it just ‘isn’t working’.
That game also saw Arteta drop Eddie Nketiah to the bench, with Leandro Trossard starting up front and Martinelli playing in his usual role.
But with Thomas Partey also out injured and Jesus missing since the World Cup, then the return of the duo couldn’t come any quicker because the Premier League leaders are now playing their crunch games.
That continues with their game in hand against Everton on Wednesday night, with the Gunners having the chance to extend their lead at the top to five points.
But Wright explained what issues he has with Arsenal’s play so far, without Jesus, who does a lot of his work outside of the box, as he told Premier League Productions (27/02/23 at 2:55 pm)
“When you look at how easy they (Man City) get up the pitch once they just switch it on,” said Wright. “They have got it, whereas Arsenal, they are straining at the sinew. All of them are being stretched.
“Yes, we have Jesus coming back,” added Wright about the £45 million star. “Which will then hopefully fire Martinelli up even more, because our left side, has missed Jesus. He would interchange with Martinelli, then he would get inside and we would get a little bit more going on our left side, that’s been a bit redundant, even though Martinelli has scored some goals.
“It feels like a whole side of Arsenal isn’t working, once that comes back, then maybe we could start scoring more goals again.”
ARSENAL TO GET STRONGER
Arsenal can’t afford any more injuries, but the big plus is, with the Europa League also returning, that the squad is going to get stronger.
The likes of Jesus, Partey and Emile Smith Rowe will be back on the pitch again, so that squad will now offer a lot more during these stomach-turning final few months.
The European games will also help because it will allow the likes of Fabio Vieira to earn those minutes, build up their form and be more ready when coming off the bench for games in the Premier League.
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