Arsenal take on Newcastle United on Sunday, and Mikel Arteta faces some big team selection decisions ahead of the game.
The Gunners struggled for long periods against Manchester City at the Emirates, and relied on Gabriel Martinelli scoring an outstanding late goal to rescue a point.
Arteta’s pragmatic approach ultimately cost his team against the Citizens, and he cannot afford to repeat this mistake when his side takes on Eddie Howe’s well-organised outfit.
The Spaniard needs to consider dropping one or two players to inject a new lease of life into his team, which has become slightly sterile.
Viktor Gyokeres should be dropped for Arsenal’s game against Newcastle United
Troy Deeney said that the City clash was huge for Viktor Gyokeres before the game on Sunday, and it certainly didn’t go well for the Swede.
Managing no shots, it was another match against one of the Premier League’s best teams where he struggled to impose himself physically and was ultimately very peripheral.
The 27-year-old is yet to demonstrate an ability to pin a defender or to be a goal threat against the best sides, and this will be increasingly concerning for Arteta.
Newcastle will field arguably the most physical centre-back partnership Gyokeres will have faced yet, with Dan Burn and Fabian Schar likely to start, and this should prompt the Arsenal manager to seriously consider dropping the £63 million signing.
If he’s not going to get shots off and not going to occupy the Magpies’ centre-backs, then there is almost no point in starting him at St. James’ Park.
Arsenal may actually be better off without the player in the opening 70 minutes on Tyneside, and then using him as an impact substitute against tiring legs in the closing stages.
Mikel Merino or Leandro Trossard should start up front for Arsenal against Newcastle
It’s not a good indictment for Gyokeres that he’s not seen as either the best physical or technical striker option at Arteta’s disposal for the visit to the north-west.
If Arteta opts to out-battle Howe’s team physically, then he should deploy Mikel Merino up front as a focal point.
If the tactician wants to try to win the game by fielding a more technical team that can control the game, then Leandro Trossard’s ability to drop deep and link play could be useful.
Gyokeres cannot fill either of these roles, with his skillset of making runs in behind potentially redundant against a compact Newcastle side who will try to brute force their way to a result.
It could be deemed harsh, but the new signing simply must be dropped at St. James’ Park.
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