Viktor Gyokeres: Page 87 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Viktor Gyokeres

Tam

Gurgen

Not sure Zubimendi can actually see that on the pitch. But yes, our chickenshit style obviously doesn't help.

Qwiss

Meatwad Igor Thiago are Brentford too.

Meatwad

Qwiss
they didn't sign him in the summer. i was just referring to strikers that joined clubs this summer like viktor and the others.

JazzG

Tam

JazzG Adam Keys and his disingenuous use of screenshotting.

I went and watched the passage.

Zubimendi didn't receive it with his back to goal, he was on the half turn and already in a position where he is looking around. He took one touch to control it (the initial screenshot) as he turned, by which point he was facing Liverpool's goal, and his second almost instantly passed it on to Saka. That pass to Gyokeres was on. Granted, it would have been a pretty amazing pass, but those are the expectations of creative passers like him or Odegaard.

As for Gyokeres, he's got a huge amount of space in a short distance from what would be a good shooting opportunity. He didn't need to be running at pace to receive that ball. Neither Konate or Van Dijk were. He also doesn't stop as Adam Keys said he did - he simply checked his sprint when it went to Saka.

I said in another thread I don't like these isolated incidents to show a point, but there is a point there to be made. Regardless of the opinion on Gyokeres, he isn't getting the service which made him a danger in Portugal, whatever the reason for that may be. That passage seems to be exactly the sort of opportunity where we should be looking to hit him early - we pressed and won high in midfield at a point where Gyokeres is in acres of space about 30 yards from the goal with the whole Liverpool defence disorganised. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with Gyokeres' productivity, but I'm also not too happy that we have signed a striker that requires higher risk passing to work yet shy away from taking risks and losing possession when it would suit him most.

JazzG

I swear some of our fanbase will make every excuse under the sun for Gyokeres, they convinced themselves they were getting a killer striker and turns out we have signed a bang average one.

GooneriC

Ozil did have that goggle eye though, could spot a pass better than others

Coombs

Tam spot on.

The thing is, Arteta probably loves this. He doesn't want Zubi to hit Gyök, here. But he wants Gyök to make the run. He's a sadomasochist.

daredevil

Tam

There's some players that have definitely targeted Gyokeres with early passes, Cala and Trossard come to mind. Others are more hesitant. However, the sample size so far is it's a mixed result if the ball does get played to him. He's just likely to lose it, as he is to keep it and that plays on the mind of players and management.

We become more at the mercy of Gyokeres's ability, the more we play to his strengths and that could easily result in high turnover football which destabilises our entire game. He hasn't shown enough to suggest that the more we give him the ball, the better a team we are for it. Even though, I do want him to touch the ball more often.

JazzG

Tam , but there is a point there to be made.

The main point is he is a bang average player who sticks out like a sore thumb in an elite team. I don't really want to sugar coat and you can point out to all these photos where a pass should have gone in and make every excuse under the sun but this guy did not pass the sniff test in the summer and now we have him it is clear to see he is not good enough to the lead the line for a top side.

Unbelievable the amount of excuses being made for him. Look at his replacement for Sporting, doing exactly the kind of numbers he was. This guy is Lacazette levels bad, I hope he proves me wrong but some people are in absolute denial here. I said it in the summer, no top club was remotely interested in him apart from us, that is a massive red flag considering the shortage in top class CF in world football. He has a poor first touch, no awareness inside the box and without all the space to run in he looks completely exposed.

Don Pacifico

Tam I agree that sometimes it feels like we're not taking sufficient risks when attacking (in a general sense, not just with Gyokeres) but the stats suggest that we are trying to adapt to having a proper striker, within the confines of PL competition.

Not sure if you saw this Sky piece a few weeks ago:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13485210/viktor-gyokeres-needs-to-do-more-to-keep-hold-of-arsenal-place-as-gabriel-jesus-returns-the-radar

The big thing for me is it showed that we're top of the league for through balls and that we've increased our through balls significantly vs last season, which you can reasonably assume is a reaction to having Gyokeres in the team.

The problem is as I see it that when we do make those through balls to him, he manages to do very little with it. The time and space afforded to him in England is far less than it would be in Portugal, which he doesn't have the technical security to overcome (albeit there have been small signs of improvement over the course of the season).

Doc

Seen quite a few bs screenshots like these on twitter

Tam

JazzG for the most part I mainly agree with you. In fact I wouldn’t even say we’re playing like an elite team at the moment, which I know some will disagree with, but I think we have levels beyond where we are just now in terms of consistency and cohesion. I think we’re having a great season results-wise but not necessarily performance-wise (which is creditable in itself) and he still sticks out. For what it’s worth, now we have a largely full first team back I reckon we’ll kick on in terms of performances.

However I’m not going to write him off. Saka whilst good hasn’t been in absolute top peak form, and Odegaard’s absence is cited as a reason for that. Saka has an unlimited line of credit in the bank with us, but if we acknowledge issues around the team affect his (and others’) performances then we cannot expect top levels from a new signing being asked to undertake a physically demanding role. There’s loads he could be doing better on, but it works both ways. Very few think it’s going well for him but you only need to wait until the 65th minute of a game these days to see the sort of impact he’s having. It’s not the one most of us would want, but he’s still impacting games. I think with a good run with the rest of a first XI around him in the next five or so games we’ll get a better sense if we’re going to see much in the way of improvement from him.

Doc

I worry that the players are losing confidence in him... a number of times he has come short to receive the ball and has lost/fumbled it which makes them hesitate the next time. which is never a good thing.

Tam

Doc yeah, but that’s also not really his game. I think he’s trying to hard and getting it wrong. Picking the wrong fights at times, choosing the wrong ways to try and get himself into the game. Some of it’s on him and some it might be down to coaching the right patterns into him.

JazzG

Tam I honestly want him to do well and while I am resigned to him not being a threat against the top sides but what really disappoints me is even against the lesser sides he has looked so poor. He just hasn't got the space and freedom he had in Portugal and doesn't have any elite attribute about him.

Gurgen Sturridge makes some fair points but what worries me is he seems to get the very basics wrong. In the box his movement is way too slow and not with enough conviction.

Also in this league the physical supremacy he enjoyed in Portugal is gone, there he would brush defenders off with ease but this league is all about physical strength and he struggles to pin any defender down, infact gets outmuscled more often than not. I remember in the summer putting up a clip of him against a Dutch team and the CB he was up against physically dominated him and he had no answer to it.

Doc

Tam I kind of agree but actually think he link up could be decent... but he just can't show it because his touch is so poor, so is in panic mode most of the time..

Honestly. I think most of his problems are down to very poor technique/ball control.. as you mentioned. he's is trying to hard, even when he is hustling with the opposition, its like he is fighting for space that he doesn't even need to overcompensate for his touch which just doesn't cut it at this level.

Meatwad

his mediocrity has resulted in a section of our fanbase criticizing our best players because supposedly they aren't trying hard enough to find him. they see him in training, they know what he's about. game recognize game.

Claudius

This is a player who thrived in open spaces in Portugal. We often find ourselves facing a mid or deep block that requires precise movement and confident ball control. These are things that all of Havertz, Jesus and Merino do better.

At present the value he has is physicality, ability to help us on long balls, and a fierce shot. Even though he’s the last one in the door, if a good striker emerges this summer, we should do what’s needed.

Bernard Woolley

The striker search (if there is indeed one) this summer will be tricky and will depend a lot on how Havertz shows up in the rest of the season both in terms of performance and availability. To my mind, it is virtually certain that Jesus will be out in the summer and Merino will be the 3rd striker / 4th MF backup. The question is whether we need to recruit a starter (I doubt we find someone who can be a starter for us without some serious overpaying so that would point towards sticking with VG) or a Havertz understudy (of whom there are far more available, though with some risk).

lorddulaarsenal

Kroupi in Jesus out. Job done.

Go big on upgrading the left hand side of the attack

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