Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has been nothing short of a breath of fresh air since joining the club in the summer. His work rate fits the style of Mikel Arteta perfectly, while his quality on the ball has been clear for all to see, especially in tight and crowded areas such as the penalty box.
However after a blistering start to life in North London, his goal scoring has taken something of a downward spiral, now going five appearances without one. While this would usually be a concern in itself, it was only exacerbated by Arsenal dropping points for just the second time this season against Southampton on Sunday.
With plenty of chances going the way of the visitors, when they aren't scored, the finger is naturally pointed at the striker who is seen as responsible for doing just that. It's a similar issue faced by Arteta last season when Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were unable to find the net consistently.
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“I think it is the team’s job to make sure we score goals, it is not up to one or two players," Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard said when discussing goal scoring all the way back in February. “I am sure we have the qualities in this team to score many goals. Of course, it’s an area we want to improve and we have to do a little bit better - but I am sure we have the quality in the team and the way we play. I am sure we will create chances, so I don’t see it as a problem."
It's something that still rings true for the side, with plenty of players contributing to the goal scoring so far - with Jesus still leading the charts but with plenty of teammates just behind. Putting Jesus' recent goal scoring woes into perspective, one of those five appearances includes a 30 minutes cameo away at Bodo/Glimt, where he picked up an assist with a well worked move.
With an xG of above seven this season and only five goals scored, it does suggest there's a slight concern there for Jesus' ability to take his chances. Sofascore note that the Brazilian has missed eight big chances this season, converting just 14 percent of his shots into goals.
The types of shots and chances are worth a better look too, given as all individual shots aren't made equal - hence the introduction of the Expected Goals metric. Jesus is a typical penalty box striker when it comes to his shooting, taking just the one shot from outside of the area this season.
His shot map from chance that haven't resulted in goals is show below from Understat. The bigger the circle represents the bigger chance, while red represents a missed shot, blue shows saved shots and purple show blocked shots.
The worry for Arsenal will be those red shots within the six-yard area, suggesting he isn't getting big chances on target from those areas. It's the type of area he has had most success from too, scoring three of his five goals in the Premier League from there so far.
The issue for Jesus comes from the fact that the chances created outside of that six-yard area are much tougher to convert, even if they have a high xG chance. Given how Arsenal use width, they usually look for cut backs across the opposition box, which inherently places defenders in front of the ball.
This allows for a greater chance of a blocked shot or a saved shot as the ball passes through the bodies in its way. It's a similar issue Graham Potter faced at Brighton, while Pep Guardiola circumvents this by having an elite taker of half chances in Erling Haaland.
The way around this for Arsenal is simply creating more chances as he would be much more likely to take them should he be given more. Games such as Southampton and Leeds, where they were far from their best gives him little chance to do that - it's a team game after all.
While he could face a repeat of the Aubameyang and Lacazette issue, Jesus offers much more across the pitch and brings plenty of others into play too. Even if he isn't directly involved in the goals, Understat has the striker ranking at 0.92xGchain per 90 minutes, meaning he is involved in the build up to a goal action nearly every game.
His impact cannot be understated and while fingers will be pointed at the striker, perhaps it should be looked as a broader team issue than one Jesus has to carry on his own.
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