Arsenal embarked on a five-year rebuild project when they appointed Mikel Arteta as the new manage in 2019, and as the project nears completion, several players are set to become victim of exile.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, who players who joined Arsenal from Manchester City in search for more game time are the two major players of comcern, as it appears Arsenal has outgrown their contributions.
The duo, who worked with Arteta while the Spaniard was assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City arrived at Arsenal to become a part of the project, but more importantly, satisfy their hunger for more playtime.
From the onset, Mikel Arteta gave them what they wanted, as they both entered straight into his plans upon their arrival, and both were very impressive during the pre-season, and carried the form to the start of the campaign.
However, it has since succumbed to a law of diminishing returns as both Zinchenko and Jesus are no more prominent in the team’s set-up.
Oleksandr Zinchenko : What goes around has come around
Oleksandr Zinchenko ‘s arrival at Arsenal spelled the end for Kieran Tierney, but recent occurrence suggests the Ukrainian is about to become a victim himself.
Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2022 and settled in seamlessly, becoming an integral part of the set-up that came close to dethroning his former club Manchester City of the Premier League title.
The Ukrainian defender, upon arrival claimed the left-back position, which was previously owned by Kieran Tierney, albeit the Scottish defender was barely available to play it.
Zinchenko, visibly a talented lad, but maybe not so much as a defender. At the same time, it is undisputed that his technical prowess can help ease pressure on the entire defense as a whole.
Zinchenko was a fan favourite at Arsenal, maybe he still is but never divided opinions in his early days at the Emirates. The fact that he was a Gooner growing up was more reason for the club’s faithful to cherish him and his contributions.
They even composed him a song and sing his praises on Matchdays, just to show gratitude for his presence and contributions to the team.
The lyrics of Arsenal’s variation of the song goes:”Always believe in, Zinchenko, oh, oh! Always believein your soul. You’ve got the power to know, you’re indestructible!”
His mentality is elite. Zinchenko, who won four Premier League titles with Manchester City inspired his Arsenal teammates during his first days at the club. Making them realize they can win the league and should aim for more than just a top four finish.
In an interview with Premier League production back in January 2023, Zinny said; “To be honest, when I had just arrived, the quality I saw… obviously I knew the Arsenal team, I knew all of them before, but still I realised on the pitch we have everything to achieve big things.
I started to speak in the dressing room, saying: ‘Guys, forget top three or whatever, we need to think about the title.’ Some of them were laughing but no one is laughing now and all of us are dreaming. But still there’s a lot of games to play and now you can see [Manchester] United is back. City, as always, is there. Let’s see what is going to happen, but we need to move step by step.”
Although the Arsenal gave City a run for their money but in the end, they succumbed to their fate of a second place finish at the end of the campaign.
Arsenal grow, and wanted much more
Due to the vast improvement in the team and the high expectations that follow, the margin for error is no longer wide and every misplaced passes and every duels lost, are criticized by fans.
Zinchenko was first questioned of his abilities by fans after he was exposed in the build-up to Liverpool’s equalizer in a 2-2 draw in Anfield back in April last year.
He was skipped past by Trent Alexander-Arnold as though there was no one there, before the Liverpool right-back found Robert Firmino with a cross, and there started Arsenal’s downfall in the title race.
Zinchenko’s defensive weakness, which made him expendable at Manchester City is again haunting him at Arsenal, though he continued in the team, in the absence of a real alternative.
Things has changed, and terms has changedJurrien Timber’s arrival last summer provided competition, but the Dutchman suffered a cruel fate on his Premier League debut, when he suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury that has ruled him out of action until recently.
During the season, Jakub Kiwior made that position his own after Zinchenko suffered an injury in the first-half of the 3-1 win over Liverpool in January.
With Kiwior at left-back, Arsenal went on a remarkable run, keeping clean sheets and scoring loads of goals, with the Polish defender also contributing three assists and one goal in the Premier League.
He provided what Zinchenko was lacking in defense, although he doesn’t come close when it comes to ball playing, the team looked solid and unbreakable overall.
Takehiro Tomiyasu also returned and Arsenal have quite a number of option in left-back. They never looked like losing, even away at Manchester City, until a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa, a game which Zinchenko started, his last start till date.
The former PSV Eindhoven man is slowly losing his place in the team, just like Tierney lost it to him less than two years ago. Although Kieran Tierney can defend, but he can not invert and use the ball as Zinchenko.
Due to the state of the Arsenal project at the time, Zinny’s flaws were acceptable but not anymore, because the Gunners are getting there, and they have the right profiles to come in.
In the 1-1 draw with Liverpool in December, Zinchencko rather gave Mohamed Salah an easy passing towards scoring the Red’s equalizer. Contributed to the error that led to a Taiwo Awoniyi’s goal at Forest in January.
Also in December against Wolverhampton Wonderers, he was the culprit that denied the team a clean sheet late in the game, when he surrendered possession recklessly in the box and allowed Matheus Cunha pull one back for the visitors.
So many errors. Yet, many unforced, Zinchenko fell off with the fans. Even though Mikel Arteta appeared to keep faith in him, that can be said to have faded away due to his relegation in these crucial period.
Ahead of next season, Arsenal have at least four players who can play the left-back position, including Zinchenko himself but excluding Kieran Tierney, who is currently on loan at Real Sociedad.
Jurrien Timber, who joined the club last summer. Takehiro Tomiyasu who recently renewed his contract until 2026 and Jakub Kiwior, whose contract ends in the summer of 2027 are not looking like departing any time soon.
That leaves Oleksandr Zinchenko’s Arsenal future in a state of serious risk.
Gabriel Jesus : Hello darkness, My old friend
Even thougt Manchester City admitted regrets to letting both the 27-year-old and Gabriel Jesus join Arsenal, it has becoming a thing of diminishing returns, as neither is assured a starting slot at the Emirates recently.
Gabriel Jesus has lost his spot to Kai Havertz, who has proven himself to be more clinical than the Brazilian, since moving to the striking role at the turn of the year.
Gabriel Jesus will have himself to blame for this aftermath as Kai Havertz was formerly deployed as a midfielder, but inconsistencies and injuries to the former City man saw Arteta choose to play Havertz up top, and that has proven to be a good decision.
The same inconsistency that made Pep Guardiola played midfielders up front and leave him on the bench during his Manchester City days. He has not helped himself in his new environment either.
The Brazilian has not been the same post his injury picked up against Cameroon in the 2022 FIFA World in Qatar.
Jesus returned in the later part of the season and was one of those responsible for Arsenal’s failure in the title run-in. His missed chances against Southampton and Liverpool ended up ruining their chances.
This season, he has four Premier League goals in 25 appearances. That is as many goals as the club’s right-back, Ben White. His poor output has also seen him left out of Brazil’s squad for the Copa America this summer.
Jesus maybe talented but Arsenal bought him for a reason, to score goals, which has proven to be his weakness. Just like it is with Zinchenko, the club has outgrown housing players in these kind of conditions.
According to the statistics, for players who have attempted 50 shots or more in this season’s Premier League, Gabriel Jesus has the worst shot conversion rate at 7.7%.
Manchester City has shown Arsenal the way, that if a striker can not score goals and a defender can not defend, their home is not at an ambitious club because these shortcomings will always come to haunt. When ? You can never tell.
It has costed Arsenal the Premier League title last season, although they are some of the reasons the club stood a chance in the first place. However, for what is worth doing at all is worth doing well, both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus will have to do more than just be the joy of the eyes, but also deliver their responsibilities.
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