Ally McCoist says he knows what Viktor Gyokeres will be thinking after difficult debut vs Man Utd

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Viktor Gyokeres endured a difficult Premier League debut for Arsenal against Manchester United on Sunday.

Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners at Old Trafford, with Riccardo Calafiori’s short-range header in the 13th minute giving the Gunners all three points.

Mikel Arteta’s side were certainly not at their best in the north-west, despite claiming victory, and the Spaniard will be eager for his team to produce more against Leeds next time out.

Martin Zubimendi delivered an indifferent debut against the Red Devils, while Gyokeres struggled significantly more than his Spanish counterpart.

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Ally McCoist says Viktor Gyokeres will be disappointed by his Arsenal debut

Arsenal signed Gyokeres for £63 million from Sporting CP this summer.

The Swede has been acquired to help the Gunners plug the goal-scoring gap between them and Liverpool, who found the back of the net 17 times more than Arteta’s team last term.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, the prolific number nine didn’t get off to the greatest start in his Arsenal career, struggling to impact the game at Old Trafford.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer weren’t impressed by Gyokeres’ showing, although pundit Ally McCoist believes that judgment should be reserved on the player for now.

Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist said that the 27-year-old will be fully aware that his performance wasn’t ‘ideal’, but will be happy his team got away with three points regardless.

“I think obviously from his personal point of view, he’ll know it wasn’t an ideal debut in terms of his own performance,” the Scotsman said.

“The most important thing is that his team won. He got about an hour before the substitutions got made, and then Havertz came on, and maybe did a little bit more.

“Listen, there’ll be far more to come from him this season. If we’re not going to judge teams on one game, we’re certainly not going to judge a new signing on one game.”

Viktor Gyokeres’ statistics vs Man Utd

Arsenal tried to feed Gyokeres in the channels early at times, but the automatisms between him and his teammates weren’t quite functional enough to exploit gaps in the United defence.

The North London outfit will have to acclimatise to their new striker’s style of play, and it could require some bedding-in time before it starts working properly.

As shown by the data above, Gyokeres was a peripheral figure throughout, managing just 22 touches and completing just four passes in his hour on the pitch.

Unable to break into the box and be a goal threat at any point, the Sweden international provided no real value to Arsenal’s attack.

Kai Havertz was introduced on the hour mark and made an impact with his physicality up front, and thus, Gyokeres will have to respond with a more encouraging display against Leeds if he’s to retain his place.