(Reuters) – Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus said that he put too much pressure on himself to score and the burden of a barren run threatened to take its toll on the Brazilian striker who surpassed 100 career goals on Wednesday.
Jesus failed to find the net in over 700 minutes on the pitch in a run of 10 games between October and November for club and country, as City struggled to keep pace in the Premier League title race and dropped to third.
“Honestly, last month I was no good and I wasn’t happy,” Jesus was quoted as saying by British newspapers the Telegraph and the Independent. “I played nine or 10 games and I didn’t score and I missed chances so I’m not happy with that.
“I cannot talk about other players, I can only talk about me, but when I’m not happy with myself I want to shoot myself in the head because it’s difficult for me.
“When I have the chance, sometimes I miss because I think I put too much pressure on myself… Always I think, ‘Wow, I have to score’ because I’m playing for a big club in big competitions with big players.”
Jesus is City’s second-choice striker behind Sergio Aguero and he had admitted to being frustrated earlier this season when Pep Guardiola benched him in favour of the Argentine.
But he has started regularly in recent weeks with Aguero out injured and the 22-year-old rediscovered his scoring touch to find the net five times in his last three games – including a hat-trick in the 4-1 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.
“I’m in a single competition with Sergio, a friendly competition,” Jesus added. “I hope that when he plays he scores. I always want him to help the team and his team-mates. When I play he does the same, which is amazing.
“I have to learn from him because he’s scored a lot for the club and throughout his career but I’m happy to reach 101 goals in my career.”
