Having watched Viktor Gyokeres in action for Arsenal, Darren Bent has come to a conclusion about who best suits the striker.
Despite Gyokeres possessing an impressive conversion rate in the Premier League, the Arsenal forward has collected a lot of criticism since his transfer.
The Swede has three Premier League goals to his name already, but that hasn’t limited how much criticism he gets from pundits.
One complaint has been how Arsenal’s style of play doesn’t suit Gyokeres, with Mikel Arteta’s players still adapting to having a specialist centre-forward in their attack.
Darren Bent thinks Gabriel Martinelli makes things hard for Viktor Gyokeres
While the Sweden international is gelling with his teammates more and more as the weeks go by, Darren Bent thinks one player’s style might be making Gyokeres’ job harder than it needs to be.
Speaking on talkSPORT using his insight as a striker, Bent admitted that Gabriel Martinelli’s unpredictability on the left flank could be something that frustrates Gyokeres in the box.
“If you’ve got a Martinelli out on the left, and I love Martinelli, I’m one of his biggest fans, he can be a little bit, you don’t know what you’re getting as a centre forward.
“Is he going to go to the byline and cross it? Is he going to cut back, is he going to cut back and shoot? It’s almost hard to get the timing and the movement when you play with players like that.”
Bent was discussing the players who could get the best out of Gyokeres, and for the reasons he listed, concluded that Martinelli wouldn’t be one of the first choices.
Gyokeres is destined to spark a partnership with Eberechi Eze
While Martinelli might not be the figure to drill early balls in the box for Gyokeres to attack, it’s becoming clear that a different player can play to the striker’s needs.
In their first start together, Eberechi Eze assisted Gyokeres, setting up the forward’s goal against Nottingham Forest.
The assist would’ve been a breath of fresh air for Gyokeres, as the ball was played early to him, but that’s not the only reason why Eze seems to work so well with the summer signing.
When starting on the left, Eze adopts positions more central than a traditional winger, like Martinelli, which enables him to play closely to Gyokeres.
As seen against Newcastle, the England international was so influential in the final third, combining multiple times with the striker.
Arteta will surely be more tempted to choose Eze on the left over Martinelli once Martin Odegaard returns, particularly with Gyokeres’ needs in mind.
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