Personal Jesus

Some years ago, I used to write about Brazilian football and the Brazilian National Team. During that period, Gabriel Jesus was breaking through as a precocious teenager at Palmeiras and he was a player that I immediately took a shine to. I love brave players that try difficult things and take defenders on, take shots on and cause stress to opposing defenders.

I watched him play in a Libertadores tie for Palmeiras away at Rosario Central. Palmeiras needed to win to avoid an embarrassing group stage exit. It was Palmeiras’ toughest game in the group, Rosario Central is a hostile place to play for a Brazilian team. Jesus was 19 and it was one of the first games he had played upfront having been moved from the wing due to an injury crisis at centre-forward.

It was a crackling tie and Jesus played incredibly well. He was the whirling dervish version of Gabriel Jesus we all know when he is at the top of his confidence. He took personal responsibility for Palmeiras’ fate and scored twice in the first half to give Palmeiras the lead. Then they fell behind. And Jesus was in an off-ball altercation. And he aimed a boot right in the breadbasket of a Rosario defender. And he was sent off amid a flurry of pointing and shouting.

He has always been an emotional player. Maybe South American defenders are better attuned to playing on his emotions because we have yet to see him lose his temper and be red carded in the Premier League. In the 2019 Copa America Final, Jesus again played like a man possessed. Brazil defeated Peru 3-1 and Gabriel Jesus scored twice.

Still scarred by the criticism of not scoring in the 2018 World Cup, Jesus was motivated to regain the trust of a Brazilian support that had largely deserted him. We saw Tasmanian Devil Jesus again and his goals won Brazil the final. So how did this redemptive final end? With Jesus being cradled by his teammates showing off the trophy to the Maracana crowd?

Brazil 3-1 Peru (HD) 2019 Copa America Final | Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo

Alas, not. Jesus was sent off in the second half, in his frustration he pushed the VAR screen over on his way to the tunnel and was filmed absolutely bawling his eyes out on the steps in the tunnel. Once again, Jesus had channeled his emotions for better and for worse. In the wake of the criticism he suffered after the 2018 World Cup, which cut him very deeply, he essentially ‘resigned’ as a striker. He resolved to try to reanimate his career as a winger again.

The criticism he endured got into his head and he allowed it to dictate his career. It more than likely contributed to his decision to go to the 2022 World Cup carrying a knee injury which has also had a detrimental impact on his career. In his native Brazil, Jesus’ expressive eyebrows have made him something of a meme, the saying goes that he always looks as though he is on the verge of tears. Sometimes he plays as though he is.

In the heavy canary yellow shirt of Brazil and in the green of his boyhood club Palmeiras, that emotion manifests itself more explosively. For Manchester City and Arsenal, his loss of form has always manifested itself in a more moon-faced, writing obscure poetry and wearing black nail polish kind of way. Back in 2019, in that post World Cup funk, he spoke candidly about how much Sergio Aguero’s supremacy at Manchester City impacted his confidence.

‘Honesty, I want to shoot myself in the head because it’s difficult for me. I take it personally of course. I played nine or ten games and didn’t score and I missed chances, so I’m not happy with that. Always I think, ‘Wow, I have to score because I’m playing for a big club in big competitions with big players. I think it happens with other players — but I cannot talk about other players, I can only talk about me.

‘I just think, ‘Oh my God, I have to score, I have to score, I have to score. When I have the chance, sometimes I miss because I think too much and put too much pressure on myself. But I’m getting better. I’m working to score and trying not think about the pressure.’ He scored twice in his first 13 appearances of 2018-19 for City and one of those goals came in a 6-1 win against Huddersfield and the other in an FA Cup tie against Oxford United.

He course corrected in the second half of the campaign, kickstarted by a goal against Rotherham in an FA Cup tie, three days later he scored four against Burton Albion in the League Cup and five days later, that powered him up to score a brace against Wolves in the Premier League. This is a confidence player and it means the highs are generally very high and the lows are very low.

The question for the player is whether he can ever harness his emotions better, otherwise he is doomed to be something of a streaky forward at best for the remainder of his career. It also warrants some caution when we assess his sudden scoring burst this week. I think when Jesus has started games recently he has looked pretty good. At home to Monaco I thought he performed very well but missed a couple of presentable chances to score.

I thought he was largely fine when he started the home match against Nottingham Forest too. Appearing from the bench, he has been little more than a zero and Arsenal need that to change in one way or another. The player has to prove he can ride the lows a little better but history does tend to suggest he rides the highs well and if he is feeling good right now, then Arteta and Arsenal should hop on the back of the motorcycle with abandon, especially if Saka has a spell on the sidelines.

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