Ian Wright has stated that Gabriel Jesus ‘looks a bit clunky’ in front of goal as Arsenal recorded an emphatic 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Arsenal legend added after the game that ‘everybody is talking’ about Jesus not scoring, even though his team put five on the board against the bottom-of-the-table club, and whilst he appreciates his assists, he wants him to score as well, as he told Premier League Productions (30/10/22 at 4:05 pm).
Jesus might have gone seven games in all competitions without a goal, but that shouldn’t hide what he is producing elsewhere, including two assists against Forest.
That’s six assists from 12 Premier League matches for the versatile forward, which is some going, and whilst he’s probably not scoring the volume of goals some want, he’s making up for it in other departments.
As a result of Jesus playing that Roberto Firmino-like role, his team are keeping the ball for that extra 5%, he is dragging opposition players where they don’t want to be, others are benefiting and scoring more than usual as well, like Granit Xhaka in recent times.
The Brazil international has never been an out-and-out forward or someone who is probably so desperate to score like Erling Haaland, even if it means having one touch during the game, his game is far more complex than that and it benefits many around him.
“I think Jesus had a very good chance with the left foot, which we might see,” said Wright at half-time. “I think he has to hit the target there. He’s in that form, at the moment, he just looks a little bit clunky, the way his body is (when shooting), it’s not shaped properly.
“He’s got to hit the target from that range, for me – he seems to be attracted to the ball. I can’t understand why he would want to be coming here (dropping deep). There is no reason for him to do that.
“I would rather him be up there where the defenders are and there is no-one on them. Stay up there because we have enough players that can do that.
“You want him to occupy the man in the middle and let people get on with it. There is enough space, that if he does occupy them, then he can get in there – That’s what I believe he should do.
He added at FT: “That’s what we need (Partey goal), especially when we have got five goals and our centre-forward hasn’t scored and everybody is talking about it. You are just hoping that this is something (a couple of assists), but you do want your centre-forward scoring as well.”
SCORING FIVE WITHOUT JESUS ON THE SCORESHEET
It should be seen as a positive that Arsenal have just put five on the board, yet Jesus hasn’t found the back of the net.
It’s like the Premier League leaders are crawling across the line, but this was a beating and a prime example of why the north London club are top and Steve Cooper’s side are bottom.
Plus, it answers a lot of critics who felt that Arsenal were perhaps stumbling slightly during this past week and looking tired, it’s funny how that conversation doesn’t come about when teams are winning.
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