Hannibal Lecter became a vegetarian. While last year, he celebrated 54 goals in 52 matches, Viktor Gyökeres has experienced a real setback since his transfer from Sporting CP to Arsenal. Arriving, however, with high expectations and a transfer for 65.8 million euros, the Swedish striker is unable to display as much bite in the Gunners jersey. Of course, this does not prevent Arsenal from being at the top of the Premier League table with two points ahead of Manchester City, but it is a stain when he was supposed to be the flagship scorer of this team, the missing piece in Mikel Arteta’s system. After 19 matches in all competitions, he has only six goals with four goals in the Premier League and two in the Champions League. Figures which are not necessarily shameful, but very disappointing, especially given his profile as a pure finisher. Having little influence in his team’s play, Viktor Gyökeres must be finalizing the actions and he cannot do it.
Moreover this season, he is the Gunners’ top scorer in the league, but has as many goals as Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard. Injured in November, he also saw Mikel Merino play in his place as number 9 and put in a solid interim performance. The Swede has only one goal in the last 10 Premier League matches he has played and will quickly have to find the solution to his lack of edge. His coach Mikel Arteta, who is demanding time for his game, nevertheless remains wary, as he confided at a press conference: “He’s a player who arrives in a different championship, the most demanding in the world, and what will happen if he doesn’t score for five or six games? That was my only question: “How will you react if you don’t score for five or six games? Can you handle it? And what will happen in the next 100 games?”
There is urgency for Gyökeres, less for Arsenal
Among the causes of these poor performances, acclimatization is obviously one of the problems of Viktor Gyökeres’ poor form. Lacking confidence, he has not yet found his place in the team and sometimes shows up out of time in actions where he must be at the finish. There is also its ability to integrate into the collective framework. Last Saturday, during the victory against Wolverhampton (2-1), he could have taken advantage of receiving the red lantern to try to regain confidence, but he only touched 15 balls for one strike. His replacement Gabriel Jesus, who only played 9 minutes, touched the sphere 8 times. Three days before, he had only touched 12 balls in 62 minutes against Bruges compared to 20 balls in 28 minutes for the Brazilian. Struggling to find his place in the squad, he is poorly served by his teammates, but is also not necessarily available enough.
Arsenal’s style of play is also very different from what they experienced at Sporting CP with almost half as many counter situations. An attack of verticality which has often allowed the Swede to make differences in previous seasons. The complementarity with its attacking buddies is the same. When he plays with Gabriel Martinelli on the left, the Brazilian winger is much more into percussion and taking individual initiative. Viktor Gyökeres was more prominent when Leandro Trossard was on the pitch, because the latter had more of the qualities to look for him in dangerous areas. However, Mikel Arteta’s choices will not depend on the comfort of Viktor Gyökeres, but on the competitiveness of Arsenal and the Swede will have to be careful. Kai Havertz is still injured, but Gabriel Jesus has been back for a few matches and corresponds much more to what the Gunners’ game requires at the start of the season. Same thing for the alternative Mikel Merino who could also relegate Viktor Gyökeres in the hierarchy. The problem has been diagnosed and Viktor Gyökeres will have to quickly resolve it so as not to see his situation get worse…
