Mikel Arteta believes that Gabriel Jesus is ready to make an impact if necessary when we take on Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.
Our Brazilian forward came off the bench to help us to a 2-1 victory against Wolves before making a similar impression during last weekend’s 1-0 win over Everton, a result that saw us go top of the Premier League tree at Christmas.
It’s a quick turnaround to Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, but Mikel feels that Jesus, who scored a hat-trick in the same round against the same opponents 12 months ago, is ready to start if called upon.
“Yes, he is,” our manager said. “You can see now, not only in games but every day in training, how much he wants it. He’s going to deserve a chance soon.
“I watched him when he was seven months [off] the pitch, and the way he was moving and how much he wanted it. I think he wrote a beautiful letter [on The Players’ Tribune] explaining what football means to him and how it affects his life. It was something beautiful.
“I think that’s probably the biggest quality of Gabi: bringing people together, connecting with people and generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent. When you’ve seen [against Everton] the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that’s his biggest quality – so we need to exploit that.
“It’s been a really intense journey, I would say. I think when he joined us, he lifted the belief, the spirit and the energy of the club and the team. I think he gave something very different to what we already had and it was really impressive. And then he had some very bad injuries that haven’t allowed him to have the consistency that we need from a very important player.
“But he’s back. I think his fighting spirit, his desire to always prepare the best way… it’s unbelievable. The team has got it now and we need to use it.”
Asked about the quick turnaround to Tuesday and the importance of the Carabao Cup, Mikel continued: “We are used to it. I think the only week that we had to prepare was this week. The rest, I think, until February at least, is going to be like this. We are used to it, to face it. We have a beautiful opportunity to go into the semi-final of a competition, so we’ll be ready.
“Now the most important one is the Carabao Cup against Palace, because it’s a nice game that we have. We’re taking it game by game. Winning and performing every game helps you for the next one, so now full focus on that.”
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