On Monday, Arsenal officially announced the signing of Jesus . For Jesus, this may be an important turning point in his career. Will Jesus, who is frustrated at Manchester City , find his own sky at Arsenal? Why did
leave Manchester City?
When Jesus played for Palmeiras, the legendary midfielder Roberto served as his coach and gave the young Jesus advice and guidance. However, after Jesus moved to Manchester City in 2017, Ze Roberto believed that Blue Moon did not allow Jesus to thrive.
In an interview, Ze Roberto said, "Jesus is a player with outstanding talent and potential, but he needs to get more playing time to be more confident."
"Guardiola is used to Let the whole team get a chance to play, and give every player a chance to play. However, I believe that when Jesus gets a chance to play regularly, we will see the best version of Jesus."
"When you can't. When he was firmly in the main position, it was difficult for Jesus to maintain stability and find confidence. I think it is very difficult to change this in Manchester City. "
In the end, it was the lack of playing time that led Jesus to decide to leave Manchester City. . Jesus has only one year left on his contract with Manchester City, which makes him one of the popular players in the summer window. In addition to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have all extended invitations to him.
The misnamed Aguero successor
When he joined Manchester City in 2017, Jesus was regarded as Aguero's successor. However, in the next five and a half seasons, Jesus never made more than 22 starts in a single season. At the same time, Jesus' playing time only accounted for 51% of the total time.
However, this does not mean that his goalscoring statistics are any less impressive. In the Premier League, Jesus scores an average of one goal every 160 minutes. During the same period, only six players with at least 15 appearances had a higher shooting efficiency than Jesus.
These six players are Aguero, Salah , Kane , Ronaldo , Aubameyang and Vardy . This is enough to show how efficient Jesus is in scoring. outstanding. However, much to the dismay of many, Jesus' goal tally should have been higher.
can't do that, in part because of Jesus' lack of consistent starting opportunities. In 159 Premier League games, Jesus came on as a substitute in more than one-third. However, Jesus' ability to seize opportunities is also one of the reasons.
As a forward, Jesus has many advantages, including running without the ball, versatility and high-pressure pressing in the frontcourt. However, Jesus' performance was not good enough when it came to seizing opportunities.
Although his scoring data are not bad, the data are enough to reflect his shortcomings in front of the goal.
Isn’t he a top center?
Since joining Manchester City in 2017, Jesus has ranked second in the Premier League in terms of negative difference between goals scored and expected goals, only higher than Crystal Palace forward Benteke .
The number of goals scored by top forwards often exceeds the expected goals, such as Kane, Son Heung-min, and . Judging from the data, Jesus scored nearly 13 fewer goals than expected.
Of course, we can look at and analyze this number in different ways.
's expected goals are higher, indicating that forwards tend to be in the right positions. Therefore, many people believe that Jesus needs to get more stable playing opportunities to be more confident and unleash his true potential in front of the goal.
However, many people also believe that judging from such data, Jesus lacks the ability required to serve as a starting center in a top team.
Guardiola has always valued Jesus, but he also seems to think that Jesus is not suitable to be a center, so he prefers to let Jesus play as a winger, and finally signed Harland to fill the gap.
However, Arsenal may view Jesus differently.
The last piece of the puzzle in Arsenal?
's inability to serve as the starting center in Manchester City does not mean that Jesus cannot do the same in other teams. Data shows that when Jesus starts in the Premier League, his data are significantly better than when he serves as a substitute.
In the 99 Premier League games he started for Manchester City, Jesus scored 53 goals and provided 23 assists. In the 60 games he played as a substitute, he only scored 5 goals and provided 6 assists, which was significantly less efficient. .
An equally important point is that Jesus brings more than just goals and assists. While his ability to take chances frustrates Guardiola, his pressing is viewed differently.
In March, Guardiola said, "When we need players who can help us a lot when we press high, he is the best player in the world."
Guardiola has always believed that Jesus is the best player in the world. He is an integral part of the team's ability to stifle their opponents' possession, which in turn allows Manchester City to always suppress their opponents in the half-space, and Arsenal also hope to exploit this ability of Jesus.
Arteta, who once served as an assistant coach at Manchester City, has always hoped to turn Arsenal into a high-pressing team. However, Ze Roberto pointed out, "Jesus just needs a coach who can give him more playing time. This is the way to let Jesus exert his full strength."
