Ben Foster has revealed his belief that Arsenal made a signing over the summer who isn’t a good fit for Mikel Arteta’s team.
The Gunners sit pretty at the summit of the Premier League, conceding just three goals in their first seven matches.
Alan Shearer now believes Arsenal will win the title, and the former Newcastle striker isn’t the only pundit who has recently changed their mind to back the North Londoners.
Despite this, there are still several areas of Arteta’s set-up that could improve, including the performances of one individual.
Ben Foster says Viktor Gyokeres doesn’t suit Arsenal
Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres for £55 million in the summer.
The Swede has faced plenty of criticism for his displays in a red and white shirt, but he has found the back of the net three times, and has shown signs of promise in recent matches for the Gunners.
However, Gyokeres has been very below-par for an under-fire Sweden team this week, and he’ll likely be feeling the pressure when he returns to Sohba Realty for the next set of fixtures.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster claimed that the 27-year-old isn’t well suited to Arsenal’s style of play.
“Gyokeres, right, I like him and he scores goals and I think he will always score goals, but I think the eye test tells you he’s not necessarily that silky player, is he?” said Foster.
“He is that player that just likes to play on shoulders. He makes good runs into the box, but Arsenal aren’t that sort of team, are they? They haven’t been that team for a long while.”
Arsenal are learning to play with Viktor Gyokeres
Mikel Arteta has made a huge tactical change this season, which has been designed to get the best out of Gyokeres.
The Gunners are trying to keep possession deeper on the pitch and invite pressure, before playing around the opposition’s press, which creates more space further up the pitch.
Gyokeres has started to reap the rewards of this system working more effectively in recent matches, finding himself in space and running off the backline in games against Olympiacos and West Ham.
Thus, Foster’s definitive conclusion that the centre-forward can’t fit into Arteta’s team is simply inaccurate, and this has been shown clearly in recent matches.
The test will be whether he has the physical capacity to dominate Premier League centre-backs, not whether he can slot into a tactically flexible system.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
