Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports
Topics: Arsenal, Manchester United, Viktor Gyokeres
Josh Lawless
Viktor Gyokeres' Arsenal debut was met with similar responses from supporters after he struggled against Manchester United on Sunday.
The £63.5 million striker was handed a start at Old Trafford, where Arsenal claimed a 1-0 win thanks to an early header from Riccardo Calafiori after a Declan Rice corner.
But the Swede could not get off the mark against a side managed by his former boss Ruben Amorim and was largely ineffective in the clash.
The former Coventry City and Brighton man had twenty-one touches and nine passes in his hour on the pitch but failed to have a single shot or create a chance in the game.
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He was replaced by Kai Havertz after 60 minutes as Gyokeres and Arsenal struggled to find the right adaptation in their first outing together.
He did not receive much service from his teammates who lacked creation but Gyokeres also struggled to hold the ball up and that in turn allowed United to gain momentum in the game.
Arsenal haven't lined up with a traditional No.9 for quite some time now, with Havertz and Mikel Merino playing there.
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Clearly there are still some early differences in how Arsenal play to the strengths of a man who scored 97 goals for Sporting but also maintain their winning formula.
Reacting to his first game, one fan on X wrote: "Gyokeres' inability to be a +1 or an outlet or a hold up threat has led to us having zero control."
A second said: "Need to either play Gyokeres through or have him drop deeper to help with build up etc. He hasn’t gotten hardly any service worth while."
A third commented: "We need our team to create chances and get balls into the box or behind for Gyokeres to use his strengths."
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A fourth opined: "Gyokeres is not the issue, everyone playing behind him is moving like he’s not there."
A final user said: "We bought Gyokeres and didn’t give him one ball in behind."
Next up for Gyokeres and Arsenal is the visit of Leeds United to the Emirates on Saturday 23 August.