After his two goal salvo against Sp*rs last weekend, Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal and Viktor Gyokeres are on the right trajectory together.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for the Swedish international since his summer arrival from Sporting, but Sunday’s North London derby was unquestionably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt.
Not only did he score twice, he was involved throughout, with good link up play, and made more passes than in any other game this season, speaking to a better connection with those around him.
Asked about the 27 year old at his pre-Chelsea press conference today, and whether those goals will help his form, Arteta said, “I think one thing leads to another. When you score the first one, the performance is good, you have more time with your teammates, you understand the games, the opponents, the league better, everything helps.
“We know his qualities, he’s undoubtedly an incredible striker. We need to feed to his quality, we need to understand him better, he needs to understand the team, the league better and I think we are in the right trajectory.”
Pressed on whether Gyokeres had suffered moments of self-doubt, he continued, “I don’t know, that’s a question for him. Obviously I know the demands that he’s put on himself, the expectations that he has to help the team.
“I’m confident because I ask our defenders a lot of times when they have to train against our players. How do you feel about that? [They say]’It’s a nightmare!’
“That’s a really good way to understand the quality of a player or how it is to defend.”
Gyokeres has now produced 8 goals and 2 assists in his last 12 games, numbers that are much improved from earlier this season, and if he can continue in this vein – hopefully with more against Chelsea on Sunday – he’ll certainly help increase our chances of silverware this season.