Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres got back on the score sheet with a brilliant Champions League goal in the Gunners dominant 3-1 win over Italian giants Inter Milan this week.
Although Gabriel Jesus was the biggest standout on the night for Arsenal, Gyokeres generated just as much praise from the Arsenal faithful, who have largely backed the high priced new striker against rampant criticism from outside of North London.
It is always telling when a player gets more criticism from outside the walls of the fan base, because that often points to a false narrative and to people missing the point of a player.
Viktor Gyokeres is a strong presence
Well, Arsenal fans have not lost sight of what is most important with Gyokeres, as the Gunners are in command of the Premier League in first place, and as this win over Inter in the Champions League shows, last season’s semifinalists are in even stronger position to potentially win the UCL this season.
Gyokeres has been a real physical presence up top, and although the goal scoring record in the Premier League has been lacking, Gyokeres has been quite efficient in front of goal in the Champions League, as his bomb from the blue vs. the Nerazzurri exemplified.
What Arsenal realize they have to do, watching Gyokeres against Inter Milan, is feed him more and more. Whether it is Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze in the playmaker role or the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka on the wings, the Gunners need the other attackers to feed Gyokeres a steady diet of chances.
Gyokeres has been better in the Champions League than the Premier League against more inventive and attacking teams rather than some of the pathetic, listless low blocks Arsenal have to face in England.
But a key counter to that is both getting the ball on Gyokeres’s head and also playing it to his feet outside the box, giving him a license to shoot from range, since he can do that with his rock for a boot.
Arsenal need Gyokeres to challenge defenses with smashing shots from range, spreading out the low block. They need their forwards to keep getting him involved, because he is going to be fully unleashed soon enough.
There is so much to like about this Arsenal team, and if they can get the version of Gyokeres who is lighting up the Champions League now in the Premier League and scoring 20 goals in a league season, Arsenal could dominate the rest of the 2020s.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.