Troy Deeney thinks Arsenal star should be ‘offended’ at Mikel Arteta in scathing assessment

Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Fleetwood Town, and former Premier League striker Troy Deeney thinks Viktor Gyokeres should be "offended" at Mikel Arteta after the Swede started the match.

After scoring 14 goals during a mixed campaign in England's top flight, Gyokeres has struggled for minutes under Arteta at the beginning of this season, starting just five games in all competitions.

The Spaniard has preferred Kai Havertz as his first-choice striker, but the Sweden international was given the nod ahead of the German against Everton on Saturday, assisting Ezri Konsa for his first Gunners goal, before getting off the mark himself on Tuesday night.

Troy Deeney thinks Viktor Gyokeres should be 'offended' at Mikel Arteta after starting vs Fleetwood

Gyokeres and Myles Lewis-Skelly were the only survivors from the side that beat Everton, as Arteta made nine changes for the trip to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

In fact, the former Coventry City striker started up front, just ahead of Havertz, with teenagers Caedach O'Neill and Max Dowman being deployed on the left and right flanks.

Despite fielding a strong enough team to get the job done, their visit to Highbury Stadium got off to the worst start when Aaron Loupalo-Bi gave the League Two side a shock lead in the 21st minute.

That advantage lasted almost half an hour against the Premier League champions before Gyokeres bundled the ball home just after half-time. Arsenal were expected to hammer home their superiority from there, but after Max Dowman was sent off in the 86th minute for retaliating to Harrison Neal's dangerous challenge, they were made to settle for a penalty shootout.

Fleetwood scored all of theirs, while Bruno Guimaraes missed the decisive kick as they were booted out of the competition, with Troy Deeney offering a scathing assessment of Gyokeres in the build-up to the match.

Speaking on CBS Sports, Deeney felt Gyokeres should have been "offended" at Arteta for starting him in this match.

"Personally, I would be kind of offended if the manager was saying I was playing in this game. That would be how I look at it," the former Watford striker said before dissecting the problems Arsenal's No. 14 has faced at the Emirates Stadium.

"The problem he’s had, in all seriousness, is a difficult summer; every time they were linked with Julian Alvarez or any other player, he was part of the deal to go," Deeney continued.

"They were trying to get him out the door, remember he didn’t play until the window closed. So there was that moment for him where he was feeling unloved, unwanted; he’s gone to Sweden, scored six in six, so he’s got the confidence when he’s away.

"But with Arsenal, and I say it week in, week out, people think I don’t like him. I don’t really care about the fella, to be honest with you, but the other part to it is that the players don’t trust him."

What Mikel Arteta thinks of Viktor Gyokeres

In one of their most embarrassing defeats in years, Arsenal's dream of winning the domestic treble is over, and their night was made even worse after Dowman was sent off.

Arguably the only positive from a terrible performance was Gyokeres grabbing his first goal of the season, and Arteta will have been pleased that his striker got on the scoresheet after feeling he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

"He was unlucky two or three moments. He’s in front of goal, he’s won the position to both centre-backs and the ball doesn’t get there,” the Spaniard said after the win against Everton.

"But he’s done a lot of good things, I think, today again, and we need to keep insisting. I think he had a really good contribution in Munich as well when he came on. He helped us to change the game, and that’s what we need from all of them."

Gyokeres could be in line to start Arsenal's Premier League showdown with Liverpool on Sunday (November 1) as they aim to instantly bounce back.