Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has claimed that Gabriel Jesus is being affected by his current goalscoring drought, but insists that ‘the goals will come’.
The Brazilian forward extended his goal drought to eight games after failing to find the net against FC Zurich on Thursday evening, but his all-round performance was important in helping us onto victory.
Jesus has been involved in a lot of our attacking play despite not finishing a move off of late, but the manager admits that his striker isn’t happy with his forays in front of goal at present.
“It does bother him for sure [Gabriel Jesus not scoring for eight games],” Arteta told the press after full-time last night (via BBC Sport).
“When he scores two he wants to score four. Today he had a couple of good chances.
“But what he generates for the team is amazing. Last week he gave three assists.
“Today he was involved in every action again. The goals will come.”
I don’t think anyone is doubting Jesus’s overall ability or impact within our side, but his drought is a slight cause for concern. He’s had some really good chances that he should at the very least be hitting the target with, but he simply isn’t. He works so hard to be in the right position at the right time, and does so much for the team, and we can only hope that once he gets his next one, they will continue to fire in as his confidence comes back.
We currently have two misfiring strikers with neither Nketiah or Jesus having netted since early October, but our team is built around a team, and the rest of the players are doing their bit thankfully. I’m sure it won’t be long before Gabriel’s struggles are beyond him.
Patrick