Graham Stack has claimed that Viktor Gyokeres’ start to life at Arsenal reminds him of Thierry Henry’s start in North London.
Gyokeres arrived for £63 million from Sporting CP in the summer, after having scored 54 goals in 52 games across all competitions last season.
The Swede has struggled at times in his opening month in the Premier League, despite scoring three goals already.
Many are concerned about how the striker will adapt to the increased physicality and speed of the English top flight, although Stack has urged fans to remain patient with him.
Graham Stack says Viktor Gyokeres’ start at Arsenal is similar to Thierry Henry’s
Arsenal signed Henry from Juventus for £11 million in 1999.
The Frenchman, initially used as a winger by Arsene Wenger, failed to find the back of the net in his first eight appearances in red and white.
Many were sceptical about whether Henry would be able to cope with the intensity of the Premier League, but he swiftly dispelled these concerns in his first season, ending the campaign with 26 goals.
Fast forward 26 years, and similar questions are being asked of Gyokeres. That said, the former Coventry City man is five years older than Henry was at the time, and this, combined with the transfer fee, means there are greater expectations that he should hit the ground running.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Hale End star Graham Stack compared the starts of the two strikers at Arsenal.
“I wouldn’t say there’s question marks over Gyokeres,” Stack said.
“I wouldn’t say that. There are obviously doubts in people’s minds.
“It’s going to take him time. I remember when Thierry came to the club, Thierry was playing out on the wing; he looked like a fish out of water. But it will take him time to adjust.
“I think that the fact that he’s played in an English league, and I watched him play for Coventry. I thought he was, without question, the best centre forward I had seen at that level for a long time, in terms of what he offered in his all-round play, his all-round game.”
Viktor Gyokeres should play more in Thierry Henry’s style
No one is expecting Gyokeres to become Henry, the greatest striker in Premier League history.
However, the Swedish international shared similar traits to the legendary number nine during his time at Sporting, and we’re yet to see him repeat these skills in N5.
In a way, Gyokeres has been mis-profiled because of his goalscoring exploits. He has never been a stick-on number nine, who lives in the penalty area and never does anything outside of it.
| Viktor Gyokeres’ Statistics vs Man Utd on the opening day | |
| 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 |
Like Henry, he’s actually been someone who is involved regularly in the build-up, and peels out wide into the channels to make things happen.
So far at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta has restricted Gyokeres to being purely a penalty box poacher, which he’s not actually well suited to.
The Spaniard has to free the player’s role up to get the best from him.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
