da casino： The Brazilian plays an important role in Mikel Arteta's side, but doubts remain over whether the Gunners can really win the league with him up front
da winzada777： During the first half of last month's north London derby, and with Arsenal deservedly leading 1-0, Gabriel Jesus picked James Maddison's pocket on the edge of the Tottenham area. The Gunners striker was left one on one with Guglielmo Vicario, but blazed the ball over the bar.
It was arguably the key moment of a game that eventually ended in a 2-2 draw. Certainly, if a then-dominant Arsenal had doubled their advantage, they would have been perfectly placed to go on and win the game. We'll never know for sure, of course, but there was no getting away from the fact that Jesus had blown a glorious chance to put his side in a commanding position in a massive match.
It was a chance that he had created but, in the eyes of many observers, including some concerned Arsenal fans, the entire play rather summed Jesus up, as it highlighted both his excellent endeavour and poor finishing.
ESPN pundit Steve Nicol said at the time: "[Erling] Haaland doesn’t miss that chance; that's the difference. If that's Haaland, that ball is in the back of the net. Jesus just cannot do what he did there. That is horrendous, not good enough."
The assessment may have been blunt, and the comparison with Haaland a tad unfair, given the Norwegian is a very different No.9, but Nicol is certainly not alone in his belief that Jesus is "not good enough" to spearhead a team with Premier League title aspirations.
Getty ImagesA title-winning team doesn't need a prolific No.9
It is, however, worth pointing out that having a prolific centre-forward is not a prerequisite for a Championship-winning team. Eric Cantona never netted more than 18 times across a single campaign during Manchester United's initial dominance of the Premier League, while Frank Lampard, a midfielder, was the most reliable source of goals in Jose Mourinho's fantastic first Chelsea side.
Even at Manchester City, where Sergio Aguero played his part in their emergence as a major force, most memorably on the final day of the 2011-12 season, and Haaland smashed the single-season goals record last term, they've never been overly reliant on a striker. Yaya Toure (20 goals), Ilkay Gundogan (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (15) have all top-scored for title-winning teams at the Etihad Stadium.
Advertisement(C)GettyImagesSharing the goals around
And there are certainly some similarities between Mikel Arteta's Arsenal and the pre-Haaland era of success at City, which is hardly surprising given the Spaniard served under Pep Guardiola for three years. The goals are certainly shared out in a similar way.
As well as Jesus (11), Bukayo Saka (14), Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli (both 15) all hit double-figures last season – one of the main reasons why the Gunners launched a surprised title tilt.
It's also highly likely that Jesus would have scored far more goals had he not been ruled out for four months with a knee injury sustained at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
GettyHow big a loss was Jesus last season?
Arsenal were understandably distraught when it was confirmed that their £45 million ($55m) signing was facing a significant spell on the sidelines last December. Their fear was that the title challenge might fall apart without a player that Arteta recently claimed had "changed our world" following his arrival from City in the summer of 2022. His impact had undeniably been as transformative as it had been instantaneous, with Jesus scoring five times in his first eight Premier League outings, as well as registering three assists.
But it should not be forgotten that his enforced absence was not the disaster that many predicted. Would they have liked to have him available? Absolutely. But when he was injured, Arsenal were five points clear of City at the top of the table, and when he returned, that advantage was still intact.
His injury, then, didn't have anything like the same devastating effect on the Gunners' title challenge as that of William Saliba. Arsenal still had sufficient strength in attack to cope without Jesus, but they capitulated without their French centre-back.
Getty'I worry about Nketiah and Jesus'
As a result, there were calls during the summer for Arsenal to sign a proven goalscorer, with Paul Merson and Gary Neville among those to question whether the Gunners could really win the league with Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as their only options to lead the line.
"That's my only doubt," Neville said on his podcast. "If they had a Haaland, if they had a [Harry] Kane, I'd be saying it's Arsenal [who are the favourites] if they can keep Saliba, Gabriel and Declan Rice fit. But honestly, I worry about Nketiah and Jesus. They're erratic."
Jesus is definitely not clinical in front of goal, as the stats underline. He's scored just 12 goals in 32 appearances for Arsenal, and what's striking is his shot conversion rate, of 14.3 percent – which is not only well below Haaland (28.4%) but also strikers such as Callum Wilson (25%) and Ivan Toney (21.3%). His 'Big chance conversion' percentage (39.3%) is also significantly lower than the same players.