Ian Wright has revealed his thoughts on Viktor Gyokeres’ divisive Arsenal debut against Manchester United on Sunday.
Gyokeres made his first competitive appearance in an Arsenal shirt, selected to lead the line for Mikel Arteta’s team alongside Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
While Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners, they left much to be desired with their performance, and the Swedish striker was a large contributor to this dissatisfying display.
The 27-year-old seemed to struggle physically, while he made little impact in the final third, taking no shots and completing no key passes.
Ian Wright has his say on Viktor Gyokeres’ debut vs Man Utd
Gyokeres signed from Sporting for £63 million this summer.
Having scored 97 goals in 102 games for the Portuguese giants over the last two seasons, significant expectations have been placed upon him at the Emirates.
He certainly didn’t live up to these expectations on opening night against United at Old Trafford.
Rio Ferdinand felt Gyokeres didn’t look fit, while Troy Deeney expressed concern over the player’s movement in and around the box.
That said, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the striker, with Gary Neville revealing that he was surprised when Arteta substituted Gyokers, who he felt had been a ‘handful’.
Ian Wright has now chipped in with his thoughts, providing some insight into the former Coventry City man’s showing on the latest Arsecast episode.
“I think that obviously, as a striker, and I’ve been there, and I’m going to Arsenal,” he said.
“You know, in that first game, you’d probably want to show a little bit of what you’re capable of, get a chance, half chance, maybe take it if you’re fortunate.
“And even if you play like Viktor Gyokeres played against United, and he didn’t really show much, if we’re going to be totally honest.
“We saw, like you said, good running into the channels, good strength and stuff like that. But in respect of what we’re going to need, we didn’t really see that. Now, that’s a combination of him getting used to the team, the team getting used to him.
“And, you know, Man Utd causing us a lot of problems. But I have to put myself in the same situation simply because everywhere he’s been up to this point, all the managers say about Viktor Gyokeres is that he turned up in training every day to the point where Mark Robins actually said, ‘you know, he always felt like somebody that is in a hurry, he’s on the move, he’s going somewhere, right?’
“So Viktor Gyokeres has got to understand he’s now at the place and this is what I had to realise with Arsenal, he’s now at the place where all that work, all that ignoring of him when he was scoring goals in different places thinking he’s going to get the move to get to where he wants to be.
“All that is done, Andrew, because now he’s at the place. So now it’s on Viktor.”
Should Viktor Gyokeres start against Leeds on Saturday?
As Wright suggested, Gyokeres needs time to settle at Arsenal and for his teammates to grow accustomed to his game.
However, Jamie Carragher already thinks Arteta might drop Gyokeres for the Gunners’ match against Leeds United at the Emirates on Saturday.
While on the basis of his display against United this would be a fair decision, it would also be a mistake.
| Viktor Gyokeres’ Statistics vs Man Utd | |
| Minutes Played | 60 |
| Touches | 22 |
| Shots | 0 |
| Expected Goals | 0 |
| Key Passes | 0 |
| Accurate Passes | 4/9 (44%) |
| Touches in Opposition Box | 3 |
| Tackles and Interceptions | 0 |
Arsenal have spent a significant sum of money on the player and they need to try and make it work with him.
This means he’ll require as many minutes as possible early on, so that he can build fitness and chemistry with his teammates.
He has to lead the line again against Leeds.
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