Mikel Arteta explains immediate Gabriel Jesus impact by pointing to Arsenal striker’s ‘chaos’
Mikel Arteta has hailed Gabriel Jesus as the exact type of player Arsenal want after the striker brought his “chaos” again in their latest pre-season win.
Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 overnight, during their pre-season tour of the USA. It was Jesus’ first start for the club after he scored twice on his debut the previous week. Once again, the new arrival was on the scoresheet.
This time, Jesus opened the scoring in the 33rd minute after the ball fell to him at the backpost following a set piece. A few moments later, Jesus played the ball across for Bukayo Saka to double the lead.
In the end, Jesus got a good 45 minutes under his belt. Arsenal will be hoping the four-time Premier League winner can replicate this impact when the season begins.
Manager Arteta is certainly optimistic that he will, explaining what makes the striker so dangerous after his latest goalscoring cameo.
“He looks really sharp, really dynamic,” Arteta said via www.arsenal.com.
“[He’s got] a really good understanding with his team-mates straight away. They are looking for him, he’s generating chances, good connections around specific spaces we want to exploit with him especially, and yeah, we’re really happy.
“He creates chaos. He creates uncertainty and he’s always on your shoulder.
“He’s always there to nick the ball off you, he’s always in front of the goal.
“He’s a real threat and this is what we need. And then he’s the one. The moment we give the ball away he is straight away active and putting pressure and getting his team behind him.
“He has a lot of leadership skills. I can see straight away what he’s doing with the boys and he’s the type of guy that we want.”
Mikel Arteta confident over contract renewal for Gabriel Jesus
As for the other goalscorer, there have been rumours about Manchester City eyeing Saka in recent days. However, Arsenal are working on a contract extension for their academy graduate.
Arteta is confident that Saka will renew his deal, which is due to expire in 2024.
“We will try,” he said. “We both have the same intention. It is a matter of time.”
Arsenal were without a few players for the clash with Everton. Explaining the injury issues, Arteta was also able to shed light on when new signing Fabio Vieira may be able to up his workload.
“We had Kieran [Tierney] with a slight problem, we had Emile [Smith Rowe] with a muscular niggle, [Takehiro] Tomiyasu as well and Ben [White],” Arteta explained.
“[Fabio Vieira] had a slight problem in his bone. Hopefully he will start to train in the next week or so.”
Arsenal’s lineup against Everton was: Turner; Cedric, Saliba, Gabriel, Tavares; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus. They ended the game as follows: Turner; Walters, Holding, Mari, Bellerin; Elneny, Lokonga; Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Pepe; Nketiah.
