Manchester City: What has happened to misfiring striker Gabriel Jesus?

Manchester City: What has happened to misfiring striker Gabriel Jesus?
Manchester City star Gabriel Jesus is not having the best of seasons.He may have nabbed an assist last night in City’s 2-1 win over Watford, but the Brazil international did not look closer to adding to his paltry tally of one goal in the 2018/19 Premier League campaign.16

Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus has found it tough this season in the Premier League.

It’s been a tough season with Sergio Aguero’s continued excellence in front of goal keeping Jesus out, but even when given the chance in the English top flight, he’s not been able to find the goal as he once did.Not that head coach Pep Guardiola is unhappy with the 21-year-old. Far from it, in fact; he believes his second-choice striker will soon hit form.“It’s important he had the chances, creating the spaces, and the second goal he created for himself,” Guardiola said.“[He] does many, many other things, in terms of the pressing, in terms of helping in many, many situations.”But what do the statistics say about how Gabriel Jesus is performing and what is going wrong for him right now? Find out below…

Last time out (vs Watford)

Going into the game, the signs were positive for the Brazilian.There was the potential for a full 90 minutes against an out-of-form Watford side – a team Jesus had scored against on the previous two occasions he had come up against them –while he was the focal point of the attack with Sergio Aguero out injured.And things were looking good from the off as he registered his first shot of the night after just 81 seconds; drifting to the left side of the penalty area to pick the ball up from a clipped David Silva pass, Jesus eventually saw his attempt, fired after cutting inside, blocked by Kiko Femenia.16

Jesus in action against Watford on Tuesday night.

He immediately followed up with a missed header, crumpling under the challenge of Christian Kabasele – resulting in some time spent on his haunches.Jesus defensive nous shone through in the early stages; he was on his toes almost constantly, running back sharpish to press opponents when possession was lost by his team-mates.16

Jesus’ pressing is always a highlight for Manchester City.

With the ball predominantly on the right side of the pitch with Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva, the Brazil ace was often at the back post, hardly moving and well covered by the imposing Kabasele.His pressing was his best asset as he forced errors, but it did take him too far back on several occasions with Leroy Sane and one of the two Silvas often ending up higher than Jesus on the pitch.The assist for Mahrez looks pretty smart on the face of it, but on closer inspection, if youre feeling critical, it looks like his pass misses the intended recipient – Bernardo Silva – only to end up at the Algeria winger anyway.16

Jesus shoots wide just after the hour-mark.

A poor free header sent high and wide after 67 minutes will have done his confidence in front of goal no favours, and while Jesus was offside, the flag did not get raised to save him.This was quickly followed by a chip over the on-rushing Ben Foster that went wide of the post when he really should have done better.And as Watford pressed forward in the later stages, gaining their consolation goal and attempting to get a winner, Jesus was left on the fringes of the game until he was replaced by Aymeric Laporte.

Overall stats this season

This season, Jesus clearly hasnt had many minutes on the pitch so a full judgement is perhaps a touch hasty.In the Premier League hes now spent 471 minutes on the pitch but only managed one goal and two assists, with one of the latter coming in last night’s win at Vicarage Road.These direct goal contributions come in four starts and seven substitute appearances, and it appears his shooting is being stifled more than anything.In three Champions League starts Jesus has three goals and no assists, but hes averaging 5.6 shots per 90 minutes compared to the four per 90 minutes hes managing domestically.16

Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Some may argue he plays more of a role in build-up play in the Premier League, but this doesnt really bear out with 0.9 key passes per game in the English top flight compared to one per match in Europe.He is, however, dribbling more in the Premier League, completing 0.7 per match in comparison to his 0.3 per match in the Champions League.The concerning thing for Jesus is that team-mate Aguero is putting up similar figures, averaging 4.2 shots per 90 domestically and four shots per 90 in Europe.WhoScored16But it is Jesus’ accuracy which is the huge problem right now, something that was evident against Watford.Aguero has only missed four big chances in the Premier League this season during his 965 minutes, while Jesus has missed an astonishing 10 in pretty much half the time.16

Jesus takes home the matchball against the Shakhtar Donetsk.

Creatively, though, Jesus does have the upper hand on Aguero, creating three big chances across the season, the same as his rival in a far shorter time.

Positioning problems

Against Watford, Jesuss average position on the ball was slightly deeper than Mahrez and only just ahead of Sane, highlighting his ability to drop back and link play.SofaScore16

Manchester City’s average positions against Watford

His touch map clears this up even further, with Jesus finding the ball in three main areas left of the penalty area, left of centre in front of the 18-yard-box, and on the right of the centre circle in the opponents half.SofaScore16

Gabriel Jesus’ touch map against Watford

To contrast, in a match with Brighton and Hove Albion – similar sized opponents to Watford, with imposing centre-backs – which ended in a 2-0 win this season, Aguero still managed to get a huge amount of the ball in positions higher up the field and in a more centralised position, while also linking play outside of the area and towards the left flank.SofaScore16

Manchester City’s average positions against Brighton

SofaScore16

Sergio Aguero’s touch map against Brighton

Where hes taking shots and their quality

We already know Jesus is missing his big chances this season, and this appears to be the main reason for his lack of goals.This is, of course, understandable, but why is this the case?The 21-year-old – and we must take his age into account considering the experience the 30-year-old Aguero can bring to the table – appears to take most of his shots on the left side of the penalty area, seriously diminishing his chances of finding the back of the net.Understat16

Gabriel Jesus’ Premier League shot map this season

To make things worse, several are towards the left-hand edge of the box, like his early shot against Watford, which are incredibly hard chances to convert.Jesus can count himself unlucky, however, with the five chances attempted from inside the six-yard box which have been saved by opposition goalkeepers.When you compare Jesus’ 2018/19 shot map to the same graphic from last season, one is surprised as a higher number of his shots are in the centre of the box, which leads us to believe the issue is more to do with his positioning.Understat16

Gabriel Jesus’ Premier League shot map last season

Aguero, with a bigger sample size, proves that being central is the way to go.He doesn’t take much on towards the left-hand side of the area, which contributes further to the explanation that Jesus’ positioning is to blame for his lack of goals.The majority of the Argentine’s shots are attempted from a position between the goalposts in the 18-yard-box, and while hes also taking a lot more potshots with low expected goals values, Manchester City’s all-time leading goalscorer is buying tickets and winning raffles at this point in time, as he has done across his time in the Premier League.Understat16

Sergio Aguero’s Premier League shot map this season

And it’s the same in Aguero’s shot map last season, showing he is not changing his attacking habits, even though Guardiola wants an all-round striker like Jesus who gives more to the full team performance.UnderStat16

Sergio Aguero’s Premier League shot map last season

Conclusion

Jesus is clearly a player who thrives on confidence, as his start to life in the Premier League two years ago proved, and right now, despite a hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk in Europe, the youngster really needs to play his way into form.Coming up against Watford’s Christian Kabasele won’t have helped Jesus given the Belgian is an extremely capable defender who has a history of marshalling top quality strikers, but Tuesday’s match showed that Jesus just needs to get his eye back in.He’s taking the right amount of shots, but they are just not quite from the right areas, as shown by the shot maps over the last season and a half.16

Jesus in action against Bournemouth.

His form is probably just an extended dip in what has already been an impressive start to life at Manchester City, and making himself available in more central areas inside the penalty area appears to be the perfect way to get back on the scoresheet, something Jesus will be hoping to do throughout Aguero’s injury absence over the festive period.

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