Arteta’s Tactical Strategy Shifts as Fresh Injury Compels Reevaluation of Gabriel Jesus Replacement Plan
Gabriel Jesus has suffered another distressing injury setback, and it is uncertain when the Brazilian forward will return to action for Mikel Arteta’s squad.
After Gabriel Jesus is declared out for “a few weeks” with a knee injury, Mikel Arteta will return to the drawing board.
Jesus missed Wednesday’s Emirates Cup victory over Monaco due to the injury, with Arteta verifying the bad news after the match.
“Unfortunately he had a little procedure this morning,” he stated.
“He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues, so they had to go in. He’s going to be out for a few weeks.”
It’s the second time in the past year that Jesus has undergone knee surgery, after sustaining an injury at the World Cup in Qatar last year.
On that occasion, the Brazil international was declared out for three months.
Arteta has revealed that Jesus’ new wound is connected to his previous affliction. The Arsenal manager went on:
“It’s a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially with the way he played against Barcelona, and he was in good condition, and we’ve lost him.
“He’s been feeling some discomfort in the last few weeks. We had to look at it and we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quickly as possible, so we decided to do it.”
“It’s something related to the previous injury that he had and the surgery. He had some irritation in the knee and we had to get it resolved.”
Jesus is expected to return much sooner this time, but he will still miss Sunday’s Community Shield match against Manchester City at Wembley and Arsenal’s August 12 home Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest.
Mikel Arteta must come up with an answer for Jesus’ absence.
Jesus is also questionable for the impending matchups with Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Manchester United.
This will force Arteta to reshuffle his lineup, with Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun competing for a starting spot.
Nonetheless, Arteta could elect to employ Leandro Trossard in place of a conventional No. 9 if he so chooses.
Trossard famously produced a hat-trick of assists in a 3-0 victory against Fulham when he did this last season in Jesus’ absence, and it worked out splendidly.
Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz are both capable of operating as a center forward.
The latter was acquired from Chelsea earlier in the summer and is accustomed to playing up front, but Arteta would rather play him in midfield.
When Jesus was injured last year, Arteta demonstrated his willingness to think outside the box. He declared at that time:
“It’s a huge blow for us, obviously. He’s such an important player: he’s brought something very different to the team and it’s impossible to replace him.
“But we have other players, other alternatives and we’ll try to get that sorted… I think [Jesus] is a unique player but Eddie has incredible qualities as well for the way we want to play. We have other alternatives in that we can play Martinelli up front as well.”
Arteta’s Tactical Strategy Shifts as Fresh Injury Compels Reevaluation of Gabriel Jesus Replacement Plan
