Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Palace left most Gooners with nothing to complain about. In fact, some consider it one of their best league wins this season.
However, Martin Keown is unhappy with one thing about Arsenal’s victory over Palace. His issue is with Gabriel Jesus’ style of play.
The former Arsenal defender believes Gabriel Jesus’ positioning on the pitch is holding back this Arsenal team. He’s concerned that the Brazilian striker drifts out wide to link up play, yet he doesn’t make runs to recover and be fed the ball to convert it for a goal. This circumstance undoubtedly sees him struggle in front of goal and has an impact on Arsenal’s attacking play, as Keown told TNT: “I like him as a player. I think he is an excellent player, but I just feel there is an issue.
“Is he the predator? Does he really want to get into that central position? And it almost seemed like he went back to type there. ‘I’ll wander into a wide position, and then I’ll feed somebody else,’ but he doesn’t really make the runs into the box.
“You have got to want to get there; it’s got to be that desire to get on the ball, and he can see the space, but for whatever reason he doesn’t want to get into that area, then they don’t feed him. That’s an area, perhaps, he needs to work on.”
That said, Keown believes the ex-Manchester City player and Arsenal’s striking coaches have some work to do to help him develop the predator instincts of a striker, which will allow him to play well in position and show us his best version of himself as a striker.
“It’s just interesting that Pep [Guardiola] had him for quite a few years and decided to use him in that right position,” Keown added.
“That looked like the role he took up for Man City, but if he is going to be Arsenal’s centre-forward, then they are going to have to do more work on keeping him in that central position.
“He works so hard for the team. He is an outstanding talent, but I don’t see him as a predator right now.”
With Arsenal unlikely to sign a striker, their prospects of winning the league may improve if Gabriel gets back to scoring more regularly. The Arsenal attacking department should follow Keown’s advice; work on Jesus’ positioning, and who knows, it could be the game-changer tactic they need for the second part of this season.
Daniel O