Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus’ surprise omission from the Brazil squad may be a result of Tite’s effort to provide confidence to his other players.
That’s according to UOL, who cover Jesus’ omission from the squad today and try to explain it despite its obvious ‘strangeness’.
The newspaper covers the latest squad today and the three major omissions from it, with Tite electing to leave out Dani Alves, Philippe Coutinho and Jesus.
Each of those has been done for a different reason and they insist that Tite is far from considering them ‘dispensable’.
The ‘strangeness’ of Jesus’ absence is compounded by his form so far this season, with the striker having been the star of the show and guided Arsenal to the top of the table early on.
He appeared to be a shoe in for this squad but has instead been left out in favour of Roberto Firmino, Matheus Cunha and Pedro.
Tite moved to explain that in a press conference yesterday, but UOL believe that the key to the issues is that Jesus is ‘in more high spirits’ than his compatriots.
He doesn’t need his confidence boosting by playing in the upcoming friendlies, whereas the others could do with it. That’s the implication from Tite’s words anyway.
Another point ‘concerns versatility’. The Arsenal man can play as a centralised striker or a down the wing, depending on Tite’s desires for specific games.
That means he could be in the squad for various positions and so Tite has instead decided to ‘gather elements’ so he can assess everyone. In fact, those he has chosen are all more natural centre forward types than Jesus.
Either way, the suggestion is that the Arsenal man shouldn’t really worry, and he is far from being discarded by his national team yet.
