Family matters for Jesus as City striker gets back on track
PEP Guardiola expects Gabriel Jesus to be back to his best for Manchester City now that he can count on the support of his family.
Jesus scored twice in the 3-1 victory over Everton on Saturday, registering his first Premier League goals since August and ending a worrying domestic drought in the process.
Several of Jesus’ close relatives and friends were in Manchester on Saturday to witness the 21-year-old’s brace.
The striker’s mother, Vera Lúcia Diniz de Jesus, was joined by his two elder brothers and two friends, who arrived in the city earlier this week to stay with Jesus.
Jesus counted on an inner circle of friends and family to help him adapt to life in Manchester when he arrived from Palmeiras in January 2017, but he has been without their support since their travel visas expired earlier this year.
The Brazilian said on Saturday that his confidence is back following his family’s return to England and Guardiola (below) believes their presence in Jesus’ life can only help the player.
“It’s much better, definitely,” the City manager said.
“Being alone, a young player, I don’t think he’s got a girlfriend, he’s not married, so to have his family here is so important and I think it’s going to help him.
His family will be so important to him.
“We can’t forget that football players are human beings and there are many players who have the talent but are in bad, bad form because of personal issues.
“Maybe getting divorced, things not going well at home, problems with their mum, dad, whatever, and that can influence things a lot on the pitch, more than people can imagine or expect and sometimes we don’t know it. That’s why he, Gabriel, has that feeling that, with his family here, he will be calmer, better. It’s good to have your family there. I could not live without my family, for example. “So maybe it’s going to help Gabriel but I have always had the feeling in the past he’s a good lad in the locker room, he’s always with Bernardo and especially the Brazilian guys, always chatting, laughing, making jokes. But it will be good for him having his family here.” Guardiola was also encouraged to hear Jesus speaking to journalists in English after the victory over Everton, taking it as another sign that the youngster is now fully adapting to life in Manchester.
“What I also like is it’s the first I listened to him in the media speaking English,” he said. “That’s cool.
“I insist on them having to learn English because sometimes I have the feeling he maybe doesn’t understand me when I speak in English so it’s important to have that feeling that he’s speaking English much better.”
Jesus used that English to admit that he had needed to deliver, having been trusted by manager Guardiola to start ahead of a fit-again Sergio Aguero.
Jesus said: “I am so happy with this because I think I need it.
“I try to play to help my teammates and in the game against Hoffenheim I think I played well but didn’t score. But that is football, that is a striker’s life.
“I try to play well, try to score but some games you don’t. I am happy with my goals but I am more happy with the win.”
Jesus, who began the season on the back of a disappointing World Cup with Brazil, looked a more confident player than he has in recent months.
He confidently fired the opening goal under Jordan Pickford after a poor clearance by Everton and doubled his tally with a powerful header. Both goals were created by Leroy Sane.
Everton pulled one back after the hour through Dominic Calvert-Lewin but City substitute Raheem Sterling wrapped up the points.
Jesus put his increased confidence down to the support of his family.
“My family is here and they helped me a lot,” Jesus said.
Jesus believes City have quickly got the Chelsea result out of their system.
He said: “Against Chelsea we played very well in my opinion. We had a lot of chances but that is football, that happens.
“Now is the moment we come back to the feeling of playing very well and winning.”
Everton were well organised in their approach but were ruthlessly punished for any sloppiness by City.
They also rallied well in the latter stages but were not clinical enough to make their hosts uncomfortable.
Manager Marco Silva said: “We showed strong character again. We brought it back to 2-1 and had three clear chances to score goals but we have to score more if we want to get a different result.
“You have to be more effective. But it was a big game, tough like we expected. We were playing against the best Premier League team, a side with a lot of quality — not just individual quality but their way, how they break and are organised.”