Viktor Gyökeres has not scored in his last six Arsenal appearances. To make matters worse, he has scored only three goals in his last 15 appearances across all competitions. It is fair to say that he hasn't scored nearly as many goals as Arsenal fans expected him to.
When he arrived in the summer, Arsenal fans were sold a dream about a mask-wearing vigilante who scored goals for fun. He was portrayed as a beast, and Arsenal signed him as their own answer to Erling Haaland's goal-scoring exploits in the Premier League.
However, that's not been the case. Nevertheless, Mikel Arteta remains in support of Viktor Gyökeres.
Mikel Arteta calls out Viktor Gyokeres' Arsenal teammates instead
Speaking after the weekend's match against Wolves, whereby Arsenal won due to two own goals and a great performance from Bukayo Saka, Mikel Arteta took the blame away from Viktor Gyökeres.
Mikel Arteta said that it is a combination of Viktor Gyökeres doing more and his teammates giving him more opportunities to score goals. In the game against Wolves, it was clear to see that he wasn't receiving passes in dangerous positions and, if anything, he was forced to make chances for himself.
In his own words, Arteta said: "[Viktor Gyökeres] was in a lot of really good positions and the ball didn't get into the area quick enough, sharp enough or just with the precision that is required for a No.9 to score the goal."
Again, this seems like an argument that not many fans can argue with. At the end of the day, there is only so much blame Gyökeres can take for not scoring goals.
If he is not viewed as a focal point or a target man by his teammates, then what is he to do? It would be much fairer to critique Gyökeres if he were squandering opportunities, but he's not being given enough opportunities to squander at this point.
It is not the first time this week that Mikel Arteta has taken the pressure off Viktor Gyökeres. Just recently, Arteta claimed that he was happy with all of Gyökeres' work outside of scoring goals, and that the goals would eventually come as a natural product of that hard work.
Nevertheless, it is frustrating for fans to watch. Naturally, fans want to see the center forward on the scoresheet in most games, but the opposite is true for Gyökeres. If anything, it is a rarity to see him on the scoresheet.