A point clear of league rivals Liverpool, Arsenal sit exactly where they need to be in their pursuit of the title.
With just five points dropped, their position is no fluke, it has been earned on merit. Following last summer’s spending spree, Mikel Arteta now has a powerful squad at his disposal. Few would spot a weakness in this Arsenal side, but Glenn Hoddle has.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss agrees Arsenal boast one of the finest squads in the league. Yet he believes the lack of a reliable goalscorer, while hinting that Viktor Gyokeres is yet to fully prove himself in that role, is holding this team back.
The missing link
Speaking on PL Productions via the Metro, Hoddle said:
“They have got good defenders, they can defend as a team, and they have got offensive players and creators too.
“The only missing link at the moment is a No.9 who is going to put the ball in the back of the net, time and time again.
“Gyokeres might end up like that, I do not know. I think that is the only question mark there.”
When Arsenal signed Gyokeres, they believed they were landing a goalscoring monster. So far, he has yet to live up to that billing. His three goals in ten games are not enough for a side chasing the title. Worse still, he is now six games without a goal.
Something has to give
The international break could not have come at a better time. Gyokeres needs to use it to reset, reflect and return to firing goals left, right and centre.
Many believe Gyokeres is in his ‘settling in’ period and that he has already made a big impact in Red & White, with more goals to come as his teammates adjust to having a proper no.9 in their midst,
He has been handed the chance to cement his place as Arsenal’s No.9, but without goals, he risks losing that spot to Kai Havertz once he returns, and that would be a bitter pill to swallow.
Your thoughts Gooners?
Daniel O
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Forgive me for my generalisation but sometimes I feel like the English are obsessed with so called true nine or other times referred to as out and out nine.
Some of the best teams I’ve seen in my lifetime never really had a conventional nine. Barcelona (2008-2012) is considered by many as the best team ever yet they mostly used false nines. City’s centurions had Aguero but most of their goals came from wide.
Liverpool’s 99 point team had Firmino at centre forward and he only scored 9 goals in the Premier League. Most of their goals came from wide.
PSG won pretty much everything last season playing predominantly with a false nine. Even Liverpool won the Prem last season with false nines(Jota & Gakpo).
Arteta’s tactics are clearly designed to get goals from multiple areas rather than just centre forward. The centre forward is there not just for goals but also to facilitate other players,particularly the wide men.
I always thought it was harsh to judge Havertz by goals alone- ditto Gyokeres. If we are winning, it doesn’t matter where the goals come from as long as everyone contributes.
Well said !
Absolutely spot on annalysis.
Couldn’t have put it any better. And may I also add that the goals will come for victor
Onyango
I get your point but you have to understand that we need a firing no.9 whether out and out or false because our wingers just don’t score enough goals to win the title or even games
For they case of psg yes Dembele might be a false 9 but he provided the no. of goals that an out and out 9 would that is why it worked without enough goals necessarily coming from the wide areas.
For they case of Liverpool it didn’t matter how many goals Firmino scored because the 20+ goals were coming from both of the wings that is why it worked but if the wingers were also not scoring enough goals like our wingers it wouldn’t have worked and Firmino would have been a problem for Liverpool just like Havertz has been for us.
As I conclude if we are going to win the title this season we need Gyokeres to at least score 20 goals or somewhere near it other wise we could come short again unless our wingers and midfielders step up and score enough goals .
It is a small sample size but we can already see that our midfielders and wingers are going to score plenty of goals. Goals from Martinelli,Trossard,Merino,Zubimendi have already won us games this season.I too want Gyokeres to score goals but it doesn’t have to be 20+. Somewhere in the region of 15 will be good enough for me.
Because this system is designed to get the most out of our wingers, we should be putting more pressure on them. Fitness allowing,Saka has the ability to get 20 goals,particularly if he’ll be taking penalties. Eze,Martinelli,Trossard,Merino and Rice all have plenty of goals in them.
And I didn’t even mention one of our biggest strengths- set pieces. We keep scoring plenty through them. I actually like that we have plenty of ways of scoring
we scored 91 goals season before last and didnt win
goals will come from everywhere especially with our bench because most players wont be getting 90 minutes.
I am sure once Havertz or Jesus come back and give Gyokeres a rest then he will bang them in … imagine if he was coming off the bench in 65/70 mins once defenders are more tired !
Havertz is the solution. Havertz may miss chances. But I don’t even see from Gyokeres. The position of Gyokeres is not ideal for his teammates to give him the ball. Tbh I’m happy with Gyokeres thus far. I expected more than what I saw from him. Havertz can do better. Havertz has good aerial presence and he also tangles frequently with defenders. Havertz plays untidy football with defenders; he is a nuisance to defenders. I rate Havertz really highly. The return of Havertz may elevate the performance of Gyokeres.
I think Gyokeres is coming along just fine. He sometimes gets into the box a second too early, if he times his runs better, or the provider times the pass better, he is going to click. It will come.
All the ingredients are there, it just takes time to cook.
Arteta does not play with a traditional 9; Auba and Laca scoring goals fell off a cliff as they struggled to adapt to a facilitator role over a scoring one.
It takes time to tweak and change a system to incorporate a finisher as a striker. Inverted wingers are not as necessary now, as they can stay wide and cross into the box rather than always cutting inside to shoot.
We can play more centrally now, with either Odegaard or Eze, or even both, to utilize a striker playing higher up rather than deeper in midfield like we see with Havertz or Gabriel.
I think it makes us stronger to have more options; a scorer in Gyokeres and a plan B with Havertz as a facilitator and deeper in midfield.
Give it time to work out the kinks, and then we can see the different setup options and how to attack opponents in different ways.
“Gyokeres might end up like that, I do not know.”
How about having a proper think about it before commenting? Perhaps watch a few videos