MY ACCOUNT
Mikel Arteta expects Arsenal to benefit from Gabriel Jesus’ absence from the Brazil squad as he hopes to show Tite what he is missing before the World Cup.
Arsenal are top of the Premier League ahead of the north London derby against Tottenham on Saturday, but none of their three senior Brazilian stars were called up by the Selecao last month.
Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Jesus had all been part of Tite’s squad during the previous international window in June.
Yet they now face a race against time to prove themselves before Qatar 2022, which kicks off next month.
Jesus was a particularly surprising omission, having scored four goals and assisted another three in seven league appearances since joining Arsenal in July.
But Arteta revealed a determined response from his number nine, telling reporters of Jesus: “He’s incredibly humble.
“He accepted the decision and the way he trained, it was just: ‘Okay, I need to improve. I need to get better. I need to do more. I really want to be there [at the World Cup], it’s a big aspiration for me, it’s an incredible opportunity. And I’m in the right place to do that.’
“So, I think we will see that on the pitch again.”
At international level, Jesus appears to be in direct competition with Spurs striker Richarlison, who has hit form at the right time with seven goals in his past six outings for Brazil.
Jesus is set to come up against him this weekend, but Arteta says his striker cannot be concerned by how others fare.
“He can only control what he can do. He cannot control what other players do,” the Arsenal manager said. “And he’s only focusing on that.
“So, he has ambition. We know that he plays with incredible commitment. And [on Saturday] he will play that way.”
