Defenders kick you so much…so I kick them back
£45m striker Jesus won’t be bullied — and doesn’t want Arsenal to be a soft touch
IT took less than 90 minutes for familiar accusations to resurface: Arsenal are soft. They can be bullied. ‘New season, same old story,’ Jamie Carragher said during their defeat by Brentford on the opening day of the 2021-22 campaign.
A year on, Gabriel Jesus took all of 90 seconds of this US tour to suggest he will help turn the dial.
It was the forward’s first start following a £45million move from Manchester City, the opening confrontation of Arsenal’s nal’s friendly against Everton. on. Jesus tangled with Yerry ry Mina inside the area and d then, when the defender looked to protect the ball, the Brazilian barged him to the floor.
No matter that Mina, a former team- mate, towers eight inches over Jesus. No matter that this was supposed to be e The Charm City Match.
‘Sometimes the defenders ders kick is you to kick so much, as well,’ your said reaction reacid Jesus.
‘Always in my life I try to be calm, to concentrate on the game, because anything can happen.’ But? ‘At the end, it’s sometimes something I have to do as well.
‘ Sometimes they’ve almost broken my leg and the referee said no and was laughing in my face. Sometimes the referee has to protect the attackers.’ Unfortunately, help isn’t always forthcoming. ‘So sometimes we protect ourselves.’
Against Everton, the 25-year-old did more — he scored one goal and created the other as Arsenal kickstarted a tour that ends against Chelsea tonight.
‘I’ve played with Mina before in Palmeiras and we were so close together, and after — I don’t know why — he started to touch me, to pinch me on my chest and then talking s***,’ added Jesus.
‘I’m not a kid any more and I went straight to him as well.’ His words will go down well in north London. And with manager Mikel Arteta, who has conceded that Arsenal need more street smarts.
That helps explain why he wanted Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, another summer signing from former club City who Arteta feels will add more ‘edge’ to his squad.
But there is also their quality. Already the tenacity, sharpness and invention of Jesus look to have taken Arsenal’s attack up a gear. His goal tally stands at three in as many pre-season games.
‘I don’t want to be the main man here, I don’t want to be a superstar,’ Jesus insisted this week. That might prove difficult.
One way to share the limelight is to share the burden: against both Nurnberg and Orlando City, Jesus played alongside fellow forward Eddie Nketiah and Arteta is keen to nurture their partnership.
‘It was so good to play with him,’ said Jesus. ‘Eddie has a lot of quality — he holds the ball, he’s stronger, he turns. He’s very good and he’s still young. I am too.’
Only 25, and yet already an elder statesman at Arsenal. For others in Arteta’s young squad, Jesus could be a vital source of advice.
‘I’m not like this where because I’ve lived something that the youngers haven’t lived yet, I want to talk,’ he said. ‘I just show in the training session by working hard and that’s it. If they want to come to talk with me, they can.’
Chelsea supposedly tried to hijack Arsenal’s deal for the Brazilian. In the end, though, the forward opted for Europa League football. Why?
‘When we started to talk about the transfer, it was with Edu and I knew then that Mikel wanted me,’ explained Jesus. ‘They showed me the project and then they showed me some stuff about my statistics and I was so surprised.’
Arteta has proven a valuable bargaining chip in negotiations with potential signings. ‘ I’ve worked with him at City so I know him a bit,’ said Jesus. ‘He helped me a lot to improve my finishing after training sessions.’
Now, Jesus is targeting more trophies with his new side. They might not come easily but already the Brazilian has shown he is up for the scrap.