Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has admitted he “said the wrong thing” when he claimed scoring goals was not his strong point. But the Brazilian has reiterated his belief that there is far more to his game than putting the ball in the back of the net.
Jesus came under fire for comments he made while on international duty in November. The 26-year-old has not been prolific for his country, averaging over three games per goal since his debut in 2016.
His record is similar for Arsenal in the Premier League since he joined from Manchester City 18 months ago. Jesus had just drawn blank in Brazil’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Argentina.
In a fresh interview with ESPN, he says his words were misconstrued. Jesus said: “It was a moment there, after a stressful game in which there were many situations and we lost to a rival.
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“And sometimes we get tired of talking about it, you know? It’s obvious that they’re going to hammer away at it. I’ve always been honest.
“And there, after the game, I felt like talking. It’s just that I put myself in a position where I think I said the wrong thing to those people who don’t make the effort to understand.
“I’ll say it again, but now I think it’s clearer: I don’t think scoring goals or fighting for the top scorer’s honour is my strong point, but I can improve, I want to improve and I will improve. I have other qualities too, but I score goals, I’ve scored goals that have helped the team, I’ve scored hat-tricks.”
Jesus says people who focus too much on statistics will not understand his true value to the teams he plays for. He added: “Many people, not generalising, only look at the result after the game. Then they see that Gabriel didn’t score, didn’t provide an assist.
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“And then they think ‘oh, he didn’t do well’ but they don’t watch the game and they don’t see what happened. Obviously there are things to improve, there always will be, but the coach is happy.
“Of course I understand the real fans, who see beyond the goal. But they want their No 9 to score as well. And I score, you know? I’m getting better and better.
“But I also understand my other strengths, which I won’t give up in order to be a goalscorer. If you say to me: ‘Ah, but would you rather just score there and lose those other qualities?’, I’d say no.”
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