morning. Have a happy Friday everyone.
Mikel Arteta is expected to hold a pre-Newcastle press conference early this morning ahead of the club’s trip tomorrow. This comes after Simon Collings reported that Martin Odegaard could attend Wednesday’s visit to Inter Milan and is an outside chance he could join the squad this weekend.
That’s definitely a very promising thing. I would be surprised to see him at Newcastle. His availability for three games may make Norway feel he should be available for those games. And out of respect for our Norwegian readers, I don’t think that’s a very good idea. Anyway, let’s see what the manager says in a moment.
Another player I’m a little nervous about is Ben White after Arteta said he ‘lost’ him in the build-up to Preston on Wednesday. Hopefully he was rested in midweek and not taking any risks before the three away games, but then again we’ll wait for whatever crumbs of information Arteta provides.
Simon also spoke about scoring his first goal since January in an interview with Gabriel Jesus.
When I say (this is my first goal) since January, it seems like it’s been a really long time. Of course, it’s been 9 months, so I understand. But people also need to understand that I start less and play less.
The point is that if he had scored, he would have played more. Playing off the bench can get you into the starting XI, as the likes of Leandro Trossard have demonstrated on numerous occasions. But I don’t think Jesus is really making an excuse here. Not lacking in self-awareness, he continued:
I also understand that with my quality, I am the type of player who needs to score more goals. I want it and I’m working really hard to get there. Then, when I get a chance to play, I try to help the team and now I think I’m more focused on scoring goals.
I’m focusing more on filming now because I didn’t do much filming before. I think what’s different for me now is that I’m trying to find a purpose. It’s great to be able to score again and I want to keep scoring when I have the chance.
As I said yesterday, his goal yesterday was a golden opportunity for a player with low output and a lot of psychological burden. He didn’t have to think, he just had to hit, and now some of that weight would be lifted off of him. Hopefully we can see the benefit of that because it’s really problematic when a forward doesn’t score for that long. This week will be a very useful one.
Still, it’s hard not to fear that we may never again see the Gabriel Jesus we enjoyed so much before his World Cup injury. He was a player who really impressed me and helped take the team to the next level, but it’s been two years since that incident and I don’t think he’s been the same since. There have been other minor injuries that have disrupted his rhythm and form, and it is not unheard of to see a player suffer serious problems and never reach the same heights again.
It’s a shame. Because despite his profligacy in terms of finishing, he gave so much to the team. It would be great if he can find that form again this season. Because the team will benefit a lot and play a lot of football before January. ), we need as much forward firing as possible.
So far, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have done most of the heavy lifting, with Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard just hanging on to their coattails. But Jesus and Raheem Sterling will also need to get involved if they are to keep their title challenge alive and get the points they need to be competitive in the cup competitions. So hopefully they can do that in their matches over the next few weeks.
Okay, I’ll leave it there for now. We’ll be bringing you all the press conference coverage, team news updates and more on Arseblog News, and this afternoon we’ll be taking a proper look at Newcastle with a preview podcast on Patreon.
But in the meantime, if you want to keep going, look out for our special Arsecast interview with Arsenal legend Martin Keown, where he talks about his life, career and his new book ‘On the Edge’. You can also receive a signed copy. Enjoy listening.
