Gabriel Jesus has admitted that it was not easy working with Pep Guardiola during his time at Manchester City.
Speaking on the Denilson Show, the Arsenal striker reflected on an instance in which Oleksandr Zinchenko was favoured over him up front in a 2-1 victory against PSG in 2021.
Gabriel Jesus has said that he was fuming and admitted that the bold decision from Pep Guardiola pushed him to eye an exit from Manchester City that very instant.
Gabriel Jesus says it was not easy working with Pep Guardiola
At the end of the day, parting ways was a successful move for all parties involved, as Jesus became a regular starter at Arsenal, for starters.
As for City, they ended up signing Erling Haaland, who even Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney called the ‘best footballer in the world’ as he spearheaded his side to a historic treble.
Now, Gabriel Jesus has reflected on his time being coached by Pep Guardiola and how his decision to bench him for Oleksandr Zinchenko against PSG was one that he still cannot forget.
“There was a game he [Pep Guardiola] put [Oleksandr] Zinchenko false-nine. Champions League, PSG at home. Crazy. The day before, he didn’t even put him there in training, he put me at striker. Then the other day, Zinchenko even joked with me, ‘That day I felt bad for you.’
Gabriel Jesus revealed how he reacted when discovering that Pep Guardiola had dropped him for a left-back up front, saying, “Two hours before the game, there’s a team-talk, the team eats, rests and goes. He gave the team, I didn’t even eat. I went crying, I called my mother, ‘I want to leave’. I’m going home, because he put him on and not me. He put a left-back there. I went crazy.”
“I didn’t warm up. I wouldn’t, with a cool head, I wouldn’t. I stayed. I was bad. The game turned 0-0. With five minutes, [Kylian] Mbappé scored, 1-0. He [Pep Guardiola] called me. I gave an assist and scored, we turned it 2-1.”
Gabriel Jesus concluded by saying that working with Pep Guardiola was challenging at all times, saying, “In the other game, I thought I was going to play. I didn’t. There was a lot of that with him, it’s not easy. But the player evolves. It is really hard. That’s where I decided, I didn’t want to stay anymore. And I decided to leave.”
It’s safe to say that with clinical goalscorers like Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez at the Catalan’s disposal, he is unlikely not to start either in any game that presents itself.
