Morning.
A quick Friday morning blog for you. If I say the name Gabriel, no doubt this week you’ll immediately think of Magalhaes after his goal and assist in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid. You might even think Martinelli because he scored a great goal that night too. Maybe, if I ask you to go again, you’ll eventually get around to Jesus.
But, I have to admit, when I saw some footage from his Instagram doing the rounds yesterday, I thought ‘Oh yeah, we still have Gabriel Jesus!’. I know injuries can mean a player is out of sight, and thus out of mind, but I feel a bit bad that I had forgotten him so easily. Perhaps it’s because we’ve started the season well; perhaps it’s because we signed three attacking players this summer and the focus has been on them; but it’s still a bit mad that a player of his quality can become so peripheral to me.
It’s not impossible that this says more about me than it does him, but I wonder if many of you had also let his presence in this squad slip your mind. The videos seem to be of him stepping up some individual training as he makes his way back from serious injury, and doing shooting/finishing drills as he looks to make a comeback from what has been a really tough period for him.
Having just rediscovered his goalscoring touch last season, scoring 6 goals in 3 games, he picked up an ACL injury against Man Utd on January 12th. He wasn’t included in the Champions League squad for the group stage despite this being about the time a player typically makes a return from that particular injury. The final games of this stage don’t take place until January, so it did raise eyebrows that he wasn’t named.
However, it’s not the first serious knee problem he suffered during his time here. That November 2022 World Cup injury came after what was a really bright start to his Arsenal career, and maybe this one has been made more complicated by that history. Speaking this week, he sounded positive about his comeback, but cautious too, saying:
I’m feeling great. My knee is responding very well. So now I’m looking forward to being around the team again soon, to come back to do what I love to do.
I’m at the stage where I need to hold myself back a little bit, because I’m doing great work outside on the pitches, but it’s tricky because I need to not rush myself too hard over the line. When you can see the end it’s important you don’t push too hard, keep my feet on the floor, and then as soon as the time comes, I will be ready.
He called it the biggest injury of his life, and clearly the length of time he’s been out demonstrates that very clearly. And when a player goes through something that serious, questions will be asked about their ability to get to the right level on their return. He has a contract until 2027, and he says he wants to help Arsenal win things until that point, saying:
There’s never been any contact with anyone at the club or my staff [about leaving]. Every day, the coach and the board say they’re eager for my return. I don’t see myself outside the club’s plans. My contract runs until 2027, and if it’s not renewed by then, I’ll be at the club at least until 2027.
I can’t say for sure if he’ll ever get back to his best. My gut instinct says that we’ll never see late summer/autumn 2022 Gabriel Jesus again, which is really sad, because he was such a lovely player back then. Not the 9 we ultimately needed, but a forward who gave this team a lot as part of that surprise springboard to the title challenge that season. Things we had been missing up front for too long, and then came the World Cup and you know the rest.
That said, this is going to be a long season. As per yesterday’s blog, there’s a lot of football still to play, and while I hope we get some luck when it comes to injuries, I think we’ve all become conditioned to expect a few absences here and there between now and May. So, we won’t get that old Jesus, but what we might well get is a 100% fit Jesus who, over the course of this season, can add even more depth to the squad. A player who will likely have to modify his game a bit, but who can still be a very useful asset.
Imagine post-Christmas when we have Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and potentially EFL Cup. The more the merrier I say, and it’d be a lovely story if Gabriel Jesus could play a part in any success we might have this season. We know Mikel Arteta won’t pick players on sentiment, so if he can come back, it will be because he’s worked hard and earned his chance. Perhaps it’s fanciful, but even if it is for just the second half, I’d love to see Jesus rise again.
Right, I’ll leave it there. For some extra reading today, Tim’s column touches on how he identifies with this current version of Arsenal for quite specific reasons, and later on we’ll have a Crystal Palace preview podcast on Patreon to look ahead to Sunday’s game.
For now, have a good one.
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