The guy was just getting into his stride after a leggy start and then got injured. We all knew he wasn’t some link up play skill king before he came so don’t see the point of really criticising that now.
Hes our main striker til Kai is back, he should be starting over merino and we see what form he can pull out again.
Was he? 1 good half against a Burnley team who will be relegated.
We might as well have signed Calvert-Lewin or Callum Wilson on frees if we were looking for someone to score against the bottom teams.
He was signed to be the difference in games like yesterday, turn a point into 3 with a goal but never looks like causing a threat. Rice put a great ball over and he’s outside the box.
Dunno about that tbh. He started the PL campaign looking meh, then a few appearances before getting injured he looked to be doing the basics (as mentioned above itt) and people were getting on board with him.
The likes of Ekitike and Sesko are funny because of the fees paid the and minimal output they have generated for their respective clubs. But we paid a reasonable sum for a guy that ought to at least be doing the hard work that the likes of Merino gives you upfront. The bonus was that he was also an experienced striker - caveat of playing the Primera Liga aside - he should be getting the Ødegaard treatment that fans are obsessed with.
Gyokeres was bought to score important goals. He hasn’t done that. If he’d scored lots of goals, that would be okay. He hasn’t done this either.
He’s open for criticism. I still believe that he’ll come good but it’s difficult to say he’s been a success here in the same way that Zubimendi or Mosquerra have.
Gyokeres is a punt based on offering a completely different type of option to our remaining strikers, adding depth and a previously exceptional goalscoring record within a drastically poorer standard of league. Was always a gamble whether he could transition to this Arsenal team playing at such a higher level of intensity and finer margins. Berta will have been the driving force.
Comparisons with Havertz, Merino and Jesus are largely pointless IMO because he was simply never that sort of option. And this was always the complete outlier among the options. People’s aesthetic bias and ideals behind this 20-30 goal striker was far removed from the reality of our team. Haaland stands alone in this area.
Personally I don’t have a problem with his inclusion in the squad because we are riddled with injuries time and again. Gyokeres and Merino are the only two that have been available for the most part so far this season. He’s occupying centre backs and driving the line back, which allows our other options to go about their business and adapt our approach in games. I don’t think we particularly create a great deal for him, but in terms of adjusting to this level he’s very much struggling to get into games. He was looking more instrumental before the recent injury and it’s a shame it happened when it did - but overall it’s not a game changing punt by any means. Go up several levels anywhere in life and the same stuff that worked before just generally won’t be enough usually.
Over the course of the season we’re looking at utilising 4 different strikers and potentially having to dip our toe into using Martinelli or Trossard there if injuries get really bad.
Isn’t that almost exactly what I said though? He was just getting in his stride and then got injured. Now he comes back for half a game and already being criticised again.
At least let’s see over the next run of 5-10 games if it’s good or bad from him.
Not going to wash my hands with him yet. But he hasn’t showed any of the qualities I expected from him, given the hype, historical record and the transfer saga etc.
Putting the goals issue aside, it’s the basic stuff that’s more concerning for me. Can’t even hold the ball up… it shouldn’t be the case at this level.
goals against Burnley and the like are almost irrelevant for a club like Arsenal.
Look at games we’ve dropped points or scored a late goal. Hes never gonna be the difference.
Find it wild people are going mad about Gyokeres after a few minutes on his return from injury.
Before that spell on the sidelines, he was being praised for his tenacity, work rate, runs in behind and overall pressing.
Everyones crying because we lost and weirdly looking to use scapegoats.
A few minutes….you mean 45?
His attributes you’ve just praised are the bare minimum for a footballer.
This is Arsenal Football Club.
I stand by my opinion that the team is not playing to his strengths.. he doesn’t play with his back to goal, he’s no hold up play maker link up type striker. He faces the goal runs at the defence crashes the box. My main concern with this transfer was that Arteta would do exactly this. The players are not being instructed to find him in and around the box. The crosses are.not coming in and he’s not missing sitter after sitter etc… He’s just out there roaming no man’s land trying to win duels when he should be running into the box as our wingers ping in crosses. Saka will cut in and force a shot when the Center Forward is wide open. You pass to your center forward and he either scores or misses and you live with that. Otherwise, what’s the point of having him in the team.
Play to his strengths or leave him out of the team.
Rice made a great cross in the dying minutes and he wasn’t there.
His “strengths” don’t exist in a top league.
His strengths coming to Arsenal definitely wasn’t his box presence and getting to the end of crosses.
He wasn’t really a poacher there.
We’ve been trying to turn him into one though.
You can’t even play to his strengths, most Prem cbs are as big and fast as him.
He looked like a youth player yesterday.
We were warned, I think Arteta knew too but in the end were forced to take him after other ST went elsewhere
Why did Rice cross to nobody?, that’s like passing to nobody and blaming the other person for not being there. Gyok wasn’t there to receive the cross because that’s not the game plan.. he’s not being told to get in the box and receive crosses so when ONE cross finally came in, he wasn’t there and I don’t blame him.
It’s because Gyokeres is reactive and has terrible movement.
Watch Haaland or Kane you will see the difference why they score so many goals in top leagues.
I can totally understand why Gyokeres has scored so many in lesser leagues.
I do take solace in Sesko also not having great positioning in the box either from what I’ve seen of him at Man Utd.
Does look the better player but still wouldn’t take him at the price Man Utd paid though.
This is kind of where I am because in that exact scenario, 9 times out of 10 Rice would turn back inside and recycle it rather than play the quick first time ball across goal. Could he have gambled? Sure, but typically we don’t put balls in like that so he wouldn’t have necessarily been expecting the early cross.
He seems to me to have regressed. I don’t know if the weight of expectation is getting to him, but he’s not even doing the basics right.. The man knows how to find the goal and can create space in the box for himself. I just don’t see the team setting up to create opportunities for him and I feel bad for him. Square peg in a round hole situation this. He’s not an Arteta mold player and Arteta is not tweaking the system enough to prioritize him so alas, this transfer might not work out.
Let’s not forget that Isak and Sesko are not exactly tearing the league up either.
Upon a second read, yes haha.
I basically think his length of rope isn’t as long as it should be, especially now that we hold some players in this team in such high regard. I guess the point I was making is that regardless of the scenarios presented so far this season, he has to be more involved even if he isn’t scoring goals. That’s been my mine gripe.