Gabriel Jesus Must Take His Chance

Gabriel Jesus is reaching that moment in his career when he must turn youthful promise into stardom.

It is a surprise to many Manchester City fans that Gabriel Jesus is still playing second fiddle to Sergio Aguero. Big things were expected of Jesus, the leader of the Brazilian strike force but so far much of that promise continues to be largely unfulfilled.

Aguero is not getting any younger, but nevertheless has adapted well to the changing demands under manager Pep Guardiola. Under Guardiola he has seemed to achieve the impossible, he has actually improved his scoring rate.

The performances of Aguero, especially his surprising willingness to adapt has served to limit the appearances of Jesus, largely reducing him to reserve striker status.

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Jesus remains waiting in the wings and now as a result of injury to Aguero, has a further chance to impress and really seal that starting slot in Manchester City blue.

But despite all the love shown by Guardiola, Jesus has not quite delivered on goals. He remains one of the best pressing centre forwards in the game, chasing the opposition and harrying for mistakes but in front of goal he is curiously wasteful.

Case in point was against Shakhtar in midweek when he begun to feel the crowd grumbling about his performance. He was getting in the right positions but doing little with the chances which were created.

Maybe he is snatching at chances? Maybe confidence in his own ability is low? Maybe the lack of trust shown in him contributes to both of these? Yet, the only way to truly cement his place is turn his performances into goals.

So far this season he has played in 17 games for City, and has scored 5 goals and assisted another 4. So a total of 9 goal interactions from 17 apearances is not a bad return at all. In fact it is excellent, so why does it feel the opposite?

Jesus has an opportunity to stake a claim by scoring in the upcoming games and really putting pressure on Aguero. Right now, there is little pressure on Aguero from Jesus.

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Many City fans are calling for a new striker, believing Jesus is not good enough to lead the line when Aguero’s light begins to dim. Jesus must seize his chance now to arrest that development before time runs out.