Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP v Man City

Just because Gyokeres couldn’t score against Arsenal doesn’t make him a bad player

Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP . (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Gyökeres has received very needless criticism from the Arsenal faithful despite showing glimpses of brilliance.

 Ahead of the clash against Sporting Lisbon last time out, gooners were keenly anticipating a closer look at a player who had been setting Europe alight, this being none other than the Swedish sensation, Victor Gyökeres who has a total of over 30 goals for club and country so far this campaign. The anticipation was also due to the fact that the Gunners had (according to reports) a long standing interest in the Swede.

Arsenal ran out 5-1 winners against his parent club with the Gunners doing a good job in silencing a striker that has been scoring for fun this season. This led to him getting mocked not just off the pitch but on it as well when Gabriel seemingly appeared to copy his celebration with his own unique version.

His performance certainly left many gooners underwhelmed with some even going as far as criticizing Gyökeres for “being nothing special.” This is certainly over the top criticism of a man who certainly showed glimpses of his quality.

Gyokeres celebrating scoring
(Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

It’s not easy coming up against a team like Arsenal who defend the way they do, any top striker in world football will struggle against the pair of Gabriel and Saliba!

Also it’s not like he didn’t show flashes of his quality. Just the way he was able to fashion some chances for himself despite very little service just shows what a good striker he is. His shot off the post while absolutely beating Kiwior for pace and power is a very good example of elite center forward play when his team is under pressure.

This and many more instances prove that his criticism from some sections of the fanbase is unfair, furthermore it also points at him being a potentially fine addition to the side if we eventually decide to push through with the transfer.

BENJAMIN KENNETH.


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20 Comments

  1. We might have seen better of him if he’d had some support from his teammates. As it was, he didn’t look too bad TBH and he does have a sense of humour.

  2. Arsenal doesn’t need him, we have so much players returning to life, a new striker could disrupt the chemistry.

    We should learn from the champions when they first sign Haaland

    1. I don’t think he’s that kind of player – I think he’s a well-rounded team player, so I wouldn’t have any concerns about him disrupting the team. Haaland is very specialised, so it took a while for things to adjust at city.
      I just don’t think we’ll pay what it would take to sign gyokeres, and he’ll probably end up following his old manager to Manchester.

    2. People have convinced themselves that striker we have not won the league because we lack a 25 goals a season striker. But what they forget is that we hardly struggle for goals. Our goals are spread out throughout the team every season.

      A proper 25 goals a season striker wouldn’t hurts us as it would give us another option. But we are not desperate for this CF that many have convinced themselves of..

      Martinelli, Saka, Odegaard, Havertz, Trossard etc just have to be a bit more consistent when those goal scoring opportunities come their way.

      1. I don’t think it’s that. The recent run of disappointing results showed that, due to a number of factors which may replicate themselves individually or collectively again, the “goals from across the team” weren’t there and, at the same time, Arsenal lacked the striker to put the chances that were created away – despite all the hard work from Saka and others.

        The striker, as you say, is another option and one that Arsenal doesn’t have currently. It’s not a question of either goals from across the team or from a “proper” striker, it’s both. Surely that’s the best solution rather than hoping for more consistency from others.

        I also don’t think we should fixate on a particular number of goals – “25 goals a season”, or a “Haaland Mk II”. Arsenal wants a striker who can be relied upon, as much as anyone can, to get around, I’d say 15-20 EPL goals (the more the merrier, but that should be the range, I think).

        We’re not going to get a “Haaland MkII”, but Arsenal (or any other club) would hardly sign any player if their benchmark for doing so was the best available.

        1. @Bartie
          **The recent run of disappointing results showed that, due to a number of factors which may replicate themselves individually or collectively again, the “goals from across the team” weren’t there and, at the same time, Arsenal lacked the striker to put the chances that were created away – despite all the hard work from Saka and others.**

          That’s what I call confirmation bias. Again, once people have convinced themselves about any given proposition they will try to find ways to confirm that bias no matter what.

          For example in your comment that I just highlighted above. You seem to have proven my point about people looking for ways to confirm their biases. You made a very valid point about a number of factors that contributed to this recent poor run we have been in. But then went ahead and ignored the obvious real / obvious factors that have contributed to this poor run of form (Stupid Red cards, Injuries to key players during a tough period of matches and also Arteta being too cautious in the way he set up the team etc.. We have been going through a chaotic period where our players kept picking up red cards, constantly injuries, start stop, different players trying to get their form back, no stability in the team etc…

          But instead of firstly pointing to those more obvious factors, you went ahead and inserted a less relevant factor (This all scoring striker) that would have scored bundles in those games where the team was very disjointed due to player injuries, suspensions and poor form. Partey playing inverted RB etc.. Timber moving to Leftback.. Merino only starting his season in the team after being injured a few days before the season started etc..

          So in my opinion what you did here was to prove my point about one convincing themselves about a given proposition then running with it and applying it to any situation even when it was negligible in that given context..

  3. From what I saw of him on Tuesday against us he is such a good / strong player. He fed on scraps but made them into something. He ran Gabriel and Saliba ragged with the limited opportunities he could get from his team.

    He seems like such a damn good CF..

  4. I am not one of those fans that would criticize VGyokeres for his performance in game against SportingCP. Halaand didn’t score in Spurds demolition of MCity and heaven didn’t fall on him.
    In football matches, a Striker is as good as the pass given to him by the midfielders or other players,
    on this instance Arsenal cut short the supply to VGyokeres and Gabriel& Saliba our stalwart did a good job limiting him to shooting from distance or tight angles.
    We all know how even the tall Halaand struggles against our Central defensive monsters.

  5. Let’s sign him. But I doubt Arteta will want to sign him. He sees differently from us so let him lead the team as long as the Kroenke’s want.

  6. Osimhen will take 2 defenders Saka 2 defenders Martinelli 2 defenders and it becomes a open field. I get it that Osimhen comes with a lot of baggage but all Top Strikers are Proud Players ask Guardiola about Erland. Osimhen ticks all the boxes but that is not the kind of Striker Arsenal buys.Guess what yhe New Arsenal needs that kind of different Drogba esque Striker. More Men less Boys to Win. Loyalty yo Zini and G.J will cost Arteta.

  7. Well shackled by us but you could see his quality shining through with no service whatsoever. Can you imagine what he could do with Rice, Ødegaard, Saka and Martinelli feeding him!

  8. Come the end of this season, I guess we will know whether we needed a striker or not.
    Hard to believe we are all, supposedly, Gooners on JA.

    My opinion is that we have a superb defence, a superb midfield, and a front three in Saka, Havertz and Martinelli that clubs would die for!!

    We’re in the top four, look like we’re going to qualify for the CL, into the quarter finals of a domestic cup – let’s see how it all works out.

  9. Some Arsenal FANS wished Gyokeres performed wonders and Arsenal faltered so they could reverberate dazed points across wave frequencies.
    ” . . . showed glimpses of his quality ”
    as did Nketiah and many others.

    He did not score, Harvertz did.
    He did not score, Trossard did.
    The ones you disdain scored, and won.
    The one on your wishlist, well . . .
    Create excuses for him.
    Arsenal players were expected to form a guard of honour, applauding him, while he scored.
    A not really in form Sabila and a fatigue shaken Megalhaes with not fully fit full backs, yet . . .

    Pick out Kiwior to glorify your point.
    We understand.
    Your fireman was extinguished!

  10. Isak probably suits us more with his all-round ability If I had to choose I’d choose him over VG But something tells me Gyokeres might just score more league goals than Isak The way he shoots on sight is something that we miss at times I’d be delighted with either one of these two strikers The only trouble is that we need a few more signings and these two strikers are so expensive that we won’t have much kitty left over for other areas

  11. Seems to me that the team is far from goal shy!
    The goals are coming from all directions!
    Not suggesting that a prolific “striker” (e.g. Harry Kane / Harland; type) would not be in the goals, given the chances provided so well by the Arsenal team, but would this upset a fine balance in the side that might prove counter productive?
    Would much rather see an interest in developing fine attacking dynamic midfield talent; such as is already being introduced into the side!
    Spending crazy money on a “name” comes with potential risk of not fitting in with the team dynamic resulting in underperformance.
    Much more progressive to look at new emerging talent such as the Southampton lad Tyler Dibling? Could be a more straightforward process to fit the Arsenal way!

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