Mikel Arteta believes Gabriel Jesus ‘changed Arsenal’s world last season.
Mikel Arteta praised “tremendous” Gabriel Jesus, claiming that he “changed Arsenal’s world last season.”
After recovering from a series of injuries, Arsenal manager Arteta may start the Brazil striker for the first time this season against Everton on Sunday.
Jesus has made two Premier League substitute appearances this season, scoring last time out in a 3-1 win over Manchester United on September 3.
Mikel Arteta believes Gabriel Jesus ‘changed Arsenal’s world last season.
However, Arteta feels that the former Manchester City forward’s game is considerably more than just scoring.
“He is a tremendous player,” Arteta remarked of his team, which finished second in the Premier League in 2022-23.
“He’s a crucial player for us.” Last season, he transformed our universe. That was obvious to everyone. He’s going to be a crucial player for us.
“I believe he brought to opponents a different energy, a different belief, a different threat, and a different fear.”
“And he did it in a very natural way, and I believe he contributed significantly to the step that we took last season.”
“In the way he plays, he tracks a lot of attention and players and creates space for others, which is a big quality.”
“When you sign a player you know, who has done it in the league, and he’s got the hunger to join us for the right reasons – it was a no-brainer for us to do it, and we could see the impact he had straight away in the team.”
Arsenal‘s last victory at Goodison Park was in 2017, and they’ve only scored twice in their last five visits.
“Simply discussing physicality does not reflect their qualities, the reasons they do it, their intentions, or how they build sequences and momentum in matches.” There is a lot of work there, therefore it is, in my opinion, far deeper than that.
Former Everton player Arteta praised Sean Dyche’s team and underlined the levels at which his players must perform if they are to take all three points.
“For me, Everton’s quality is not physicality; it’s what they do and how well they play, which Sean (Dyche) does well,” Arteta continued.
“Simply discussing physicality does not reflect their qualities, the reasons they do it, their intentions, or how they build sequences and momentum in matches.” There is a lot of work there, therefore it is, in my opinion, far deeper than that.
Just talking about physicality doesn’t reflect the qualities they have, the reasons they do it, the intentions they have, how they build sequences and momentum in matches.
Arteta on Everton
“They (Arsenal players) are aware of how difficult Everton away is.” We’ve obviously seen it, so there’s a level of focus and attention required when playing against a side like that.”
Eddie Nketiah was complimented by Arteta after being included to Gareth Southgate’s England team earlier this month, despite not playing a single minute in triumphs over Ukraine and Scotland.
“I think it’s a big point to be named to the England national team,” he remarked.
“I was really happy and proud of him, and it’s up to the coaching staff to decide who starts, and he’ll have to earn the right to play, which shows you the level there is.”
