Gyokeres picked up an injury last weekendplaceholder image
Gyokeres picked up an injury last weekend | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Mikel Arteta will have been pleased about Arsenal’s comfortable win over Club Brugge, however, he won’t have been happy about something Viktor Gyokeres did.
Mikel Arteta allowed the walking wounded in his Arsenal squad to have a breather against Club Brugge.
The bench looked strong with players like Bukayo Saka, Ricardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus waiting in the wings but weren’t needed thanks to Noni Madueke’s double that put the Gunners into a strong position early in the second half. The Belgians had caused problems on the counter-attack, however, the visitors always looked like they had too much quality despite a lengthy injury list.
Viktor Gyokeres’ Arsenal place will be under threat
Despite the fluency of the forward line there was one main issue, returning to the starting XI Viktor Gyokeres looked miles off the pace and, if anything, was more of a hindrance than a help. That Mikel Merino, to the naked eye, caused the Brugge defence more problems and got into more attacking positions said it all about the big Swede’s mobility and movement on the night.
There was one moment late in the first half that Arteta will have noticed and not have been pleased about with Brugge on the ascendancy and looking for an equaliser. Soaking up pressure, Arsenal’s defence recovered the ball and fed Gyokeres wide on the left flank, his first touch was good to hold play up but then he was woefully short with his pass into midfield which saw the Belgians reclaim possession in a dangerous area of the park.
Instead of working back to win the ball, Gyokeres stopped, shrugged his shoulders and waved his arms about suggesting that it wasn’t his fault possession was lost. He might not be fully fit, or available for a few weeks yet, but the first thought turned to what Kai Havertz would do in the same situation. For a start, he wouldn’t have given the ball away, and he would have worked hard to trying and make up for his mistake.
Will Havertz return to no.9 role for Arsenal?
Arsenal would have hoped that the signing of Gyokeres would mean that Havertz could play in his preferred attacking midfield role, however, it is already looking like the German might be needed somewhere he has grown used to.
In 2023, Havertz was being used by Arsenal as a striker and was asked about adapting, claiming that he hadn’t quite fully transitioned: “I like to go into the box and score goals, maybe from first contact or two touches,” Havertz told The Athletic. “More or less, I’m a midfield player but I like to go into the box, and maybe that’s why not every defensive player has me on their mind — I just run through the midfield and then I’m there.”
This changed just a year later though with Havertz making a claim that Gyokeres should be worried about: “I clearly see myself as a number 9 in the national team – and that’s what I am now at Arsenal. But I don’t mean the classic nine. Where else are they available? Even Haaland or Kane, who you immediately think of, don’t just stand in the box and wait for the finish.”
With Arsenal’s biggest goal threats coming from wide areas, Arteta needs his no.9 to link play and create space for them, something Havertz is a master of and Gyokeres is yet to develop.
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