Ian Wright pleads with Arsenal fans to not turn on star they ‘may have outgrown’
Ian Wright has urged Arsenal supporters to “support” Gabriel Jesus and not turn on him after murmurs that the Gunners have “outgrown him”.
Arsenal have made a good start to the new Premier League season with five wins and two draws – one of which was against title rivals Manchester City – in their opening seven matches of the new campaign.
That sees the Gunners in third place in the Premier League table, level on points with Pep Guardiola’s defending champions and one point adrift of leaders Liverpool.
Jesus is yet to contribute a goal or assist to the cause this season in eight appearances in all competitions, although just three of those have been from the start.
The Brazilian was handed his first Premier League start of the season in the Gunners’ 3-1 win over Southampton but was taken off on the hour mark after failing to impress.
And now Wright senses that Arsenal fans are starting to grow frustrated by Jesus with the Gunners legend urging supporters to stick behind him despite his recent performances.
“Can I just say something about Gabriel Jesus because I feel the need to support him right now,” Wright said on his own podcast.
“I really, really do. I know there’s a feeling that we may have outgrown him but remember when Gabby came, he was a leveller, he levelled us up.
“Arsenal are at a certain level now but we will definitely need him at some stage so I think it’s important in this moment for the Arsenal fans to support him.
“They have to get behind him. Don’t be frustrated with the way he’s playing, he’s trying so hard at the moment and we’re going to need him.
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“We need to make sure we give him confidence because he’s won this [the Premier League] four times. He’s been clutch in many situations before.
“Listening to the murmurings and the way the fans are… please man, back this guy, stay with him.
“He wants to do so well and it’s just not happening right now but he needs support, he really, really does.”
Arsenal fell behind against Southampton at the weekend to a Cameron Archer goal and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta insists it was just the wake-up call his side needed.
Arteta said after the match: “We started the second half a bit sloppy. It was unbelievable that we did not score in the first half. But we threw away everything we did, and started a completely brand new game in a difficult context.
“We had a wake-up call with their goal, and it’s true we had to react to that. But we did it and we did it in a convincing way.”
