Viktor Gyokeres was one of the big name players left out of the starting XI as Arsenal lost to Man City and Wayne Rooney thinks the Swedish striker should be upset.
Gyokeres has been Arsenal’s best forward and biggest goal threat all season but he was dropped to the bench in favour of Havertz.
As we know, Havertz did get himself a fortunate goal and in fairness, he played quite well.
However, after Arsenal paid over £60m for Gyokeres, Wayne Rooney believes the big striker should be asking questions of his manager.
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Wayne Rooney says he’d be really upset if he was Viktor Gyokeres right now
As we saw for Man City, it was the goal from their own big striker, Erling Haaland, that proved decisive.
Indeed, speaking about Gyokeres and his physical presence, Rooney has questioned why Mikel Arteta didn’t play him.
“I just think in a game of this stature, your big number nine who you’ve brought in for big money in the summer, like Haaland for Man City, you want them playing in these games to make the difference. I was just looking that and thinking, ‘If I was him, what would I be feeling?’ I wouldn’t be happy at all if I was sat on the bench in a game like this,” Rooney commented for BBC MOTD2.
“Maybe,” Rooney responded when asked if his confidence might have taken a hit. “Or for the run-in, for the next games because he’d be sat there thinking, ‘Does the manager fancy me or does he fancy Havertz ahead of me?’
“Havertz, he did have a good game but I think if you’re coming in, you’re meant to be the goalscorer, I actually think he’s had a decent season [Gyokeres]. I think he’d be really disappointed he didn’t play today.”
Mikel Arteta just keeps leaving himself open to criticism
Rooney makes a good point here. The best strikers are signed for these big games and while Kai Havertz is a good player in his own right, Gyokeres will be asking questions here.
Arsenal have forked out huge sums for players in recent seasons and surely the intention of those big money signings is for them to be involved when it matters.
We saw with City, there was simply no way Guardiola wasn’t going to play Doku, Semenyo and Cherki. They were signed to win games, and they very much helped that.
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At the moment, it does feel like Mikel Arteta keeps making decisions that leave the vultures circling.
Instead of taking the pressure away from the club, he’s actually giving the press fuel to question him further and further.
Indeed, Gyokeres himself might be asking questions now as well, adding yet more pressure to the cooker.
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