Gary Lineker says frustrating Arsenal star 'needs coaching'

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Gary Lineker believes Gunners forward Gabriel Jesus would benefit from specific 'centre-forward coaching’ at Arsenal.

Following a lengthy goal drought, Jesus has improved his record in front of goal recently with six goals in his last five appearances.

Jesus did not score in the second-half of last season and then went 11 games of the 2024-25 campaign without a goal.

Five goals in the space of four days against Crystal Palace gave Jesus a much-needed confidence boost and he was also on target in last week’s 3-1 victory at Brentford.

Jesus has now scored 26 goals in 94 appearances for Arsenal since his £45m move from Manchester City in the summer of 2022.

Ex-England striker Lineker admires the 27-year-old’s work ethic but says he needs ‘a bit of centre-forward-style coaching’ to get in the right areas on the pitch.

‘Gabriel Jesus is honest and he runs and runs,’ Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast while assessing Arsenal’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Brighton at the weekend.

‘He's got a one-in-three goalscoring record which was similar to the one he had at Manchester City.

‘I think he's almost too game, he runs everywhere, he goes back deep to get the ball.

‘With a bit of centre-forward-style coaching you'd just tell him to stay up the middle, stay at the top. Don't come deep all the time because Arsenal need him in the box.

‘But he's probably one of those players who aren't going to change now.’

Arsenal won three games in a row over Christmas to once again emerge as Liverpool’s biggest rival for the Premier League title.

But dropping more points at Brighton has left Mikel Arteta’s side six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, who drew with Manchester United on Sunday.

‘They're still in it Arsenal,’ Lineker said of Arsenal’s title hopes. ‘Liverpool dropped points so they've still got a chance.’

Arsenal were left ‘frustrated and disappointed’ after a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Saturday.

Ethan Nwaneri broke the deadlock on 16 minutes but Brighton earned a point through Joao Pedro’s controversial second-half penalty.

‘You can see from my expression that I am frustrated and disappointed,’ Gunners summer signing Riccardo Calafiori said.

‘We could have done better, for sure. The good thing is that we have another game in two or three days and we are already thinking about that.

‘The first 25 minutes was how Arsenal should play and then we could not dominate the game.

‘From tomorrow, we will forget about this game and think about the next one. The season is so long.’

Arsenal now turn their attentions to a FA Cup third-round clash against Manchester United, who produced a much-improved performance to hold Liverpool at the weekend.

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