Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Tom Canton

Martin Odegaard uncovers glaring Gabriel Jesus problem to help return his best Arsenal form

You might not be having this one, and I wouldn’t blame you. The idea of writing something critical about Gabriel Jesus ten games into a season which sees Arsenal having won nine and sitting four points clear at the top borders on blasphemy.

However, indulge me, just for a moment. Arsenal were not great on Sunday against Leeds United and within that poor performance was probably Gabriel Jesus’ worst.

Contextually, he has been brilliant for us, and we wouldn’t be where we are without him. But to stay there, we need the Jesus that began the season to rediscover that form and, interestingly, it is Martin Odegaard that has helped show the biggest problem he faced.

READ MORE: Destroying the ridiculous Gabriel Magalhaes myth threatening to undermine his Arsenal career

Without question, the Norwegian was the standout for the Gunners in the first half. His touch, the passing, and the way in which he helped the Gunners navigate the Leeds press, as much as was feasible, was superb.

He operated on the right-hand side of the centre in his assigned role. As shown in the graphic below, he probably had one of his more restricted performances, like many of his teammates, due to how aggressive his opponents were.

Martin Odegaard positioning, heat map and pass map vs Leeds United for Arsenal. (Wyscout)

Yet he still created the two biggest chances that Arsenal had to score which Bukayo Saka thankfully took one of. The other was missed by Jesus.

A chance that, upon reflection, he will know he should be scoring from. A chance that he already has scored from earlier this season and in the preseason too.

But look again at the graphic above, to the average position of players in the bottom left. Notice how deep the Brazilian is, he spent the majority of the game playing behind Odegaard.

This has a doubly negative impact on things. Not only do Arsenal lack their main outlet and focal point, which, when possession was turned over, particularly in the second half, they found a struggle to escape, but Odegaard’s strength of creativity was stunted by not having his striker to aim at.

Jesus fell into a trap that Alexandre Lacazette was heavily criticised for. It is just one game, and so thankfully, the PSV and Southampton matches, should he play both, will provide further insight to indicate this isn’t becoming a theme.

He needs to return to playing on the shoulder of the opposition defenders. Yes, he can drop in for combination play, but he needs to ensure he remains the central focal point of the side.

This probably explains why Arteta brought on Fabio Vieira for Odegaard as the initial change. Vieira can play better further forward than his Norwegian counterpart, and the position graphic does show the feint circle of Vieira indeed ahead of Jesus.

In games such as against Liverpool and Tottenham, Jesus was significantly ahead of Odegaard. Yes, both the wide players are shown as being further advanced, although playing down the wings, is not out of the ordinary.

Average position of Gabriel Jesus vs Tottenham and Liverpool. (Wyscout)

There will be further games when opposition sides put the Gunners under serious pressure. The temptation for Jesus might be to continue dropping deeper to aid in ball recovery, a task so often seen to be receiving praise, an attacker defending.

However, to avoid the repeat of Arsenal becoming trapped again, hopefully, this changes. As a final piece of evidence, again, return to the first graphic and find where Eddie Nketiah, the number 14, is found, and to instructions he was given by Mikel Arteta to replace Jesus become abundantly clear.

READ NEXT:

Arsenal's next four fixtures compared to Man City, Tottenham, Man Utd and Chelsea in title race

Aaron Ramsdale says Mikel Arteta prepared Arsenal to claim battling win over Leeds United

Key Arsenal player joins Gabriel Jesus as huge suspension worry ahead of Southampton clash

Why Gabriel got angry with Martin Odegaard as Mikel Arteta shows love for Arsenal win vs Leeds

Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from the Emirates Stadium

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.