Just watched some comps.
Yes a lot of pens. But he knows where the goal is.
Great movement and confident finishes. And versatile. Tap ins and also shots from outside the box or with loads of defenders about.
I am very happy and confident he will be a success.
Wtf is going on ? Sign da ting u twat
What I noticed from Gyokeres was the sheer amount of runs he makes in behind. For 90% of his open play goals he’s making runs off the last man.
Arteta best not try to false ninify his game.
I’m hoping that we play to his obvious strengths and don’t try to change his game. He’s 27 whilst it’s not impossible for him to improve across the board I don’t see the sense in repackaging him.
Nerdball coaches:
impressive dribbling and carrying for big Gyok
Arteta needs to leave the back to goal stuff to Havertz.
With Gyok its really simple: Make a smart lay off, nothing fancy and attack the back line with runs in attacking transitions
Deep blocks, use strength and box dashes to battle and occupy CBs in duels, create space for Ode, Saka, LW to win favourable match ups
This. It really is his superpower. He’s most effective when the ball is in progressive forward motion.
If he has to hold up play, link up, slow it down etc, then his entire game will be nullified and it’ll be a waste.
Arteta really needs to adjust his coaching style to ensure we play to his strengths.
And not just for Gyok either. This slow, laborious style we’ve been playing for the last year or so needs to change in general.
That’s why I think they’re gonna play quite a bit together.
Havertz to do the dirty work, taking players with him and competing for duels while Gyokeres can take advantage of the space opening up for him.
We share a similar view.
To say Gyokeres scored a number of goals coming from behind, beating the last defender… Actually we had many opportunities from our left last season but Martinelli failed to capitalize.
Gyokeres may not have the same speed, but he is much better to take those scoring chances.
I don’t understand why it is so difficult to think of putting him on the left.
I think it’s less that he plays on the left and more that’s where he drifts when playing up top because that’s the area of the penalty box that he has the most success from.
It sets up a mouthwatering prospect because many teams we played would immediately flood the right to block out Saka, now we have a midfield outlet in Zubimendi who specialises in switching play, suddenly those defenders have closed down Saka and left Goykeres in bags of space on the left, who can hit first time shots or will leave Saka with only one marker meaning he has more space to play with. Suddenly we have the chaos factors in attack that’s been really missing of late.
Add Eze and Noni, both of whom provide new attacking threats so we may not have to rely on free-kicks and corners so much to score goals.
I wouldn’t like him to play with Havertz, leave that for desperate scenarios when we need a goal.
Play to his strengths and have the team play in a fashion that suits it. If we play Kai at #9, play a system that suits him. What we don’t want is teams being able to set up against us when a ball hasn’t even been kicked.
I agree, I think you want to start with one or the other. Depending on who and what we’re expecting to be up against. If Goykeres bangs and we have Eze, Merino and Rice for that left-hand midfield spot, then Havertz is going to struggle to get playing time apart from coming off the bench and/or for the purposes of giving Goykeres a rest.
If we’re playing two up top, I actually think Jesus would compliment Goykeres better with the former being the disrupter and the latter being the advanced forward.
Nice selection problem to have though, isn’t it?
Yeah, I’ve been discussing with some nerdball analysis YT channels where they said he’s not a good fit for Arsenal because he’s not good with his back to the goal, hold up, playing as that false 9 basically…
I’m struggling to see why would we desperately need a false 9 type of striker, strong in hold up/possession on our set up?
Do we have Mane/Salah type goalscorers on the flanks so we could use a guy like Firmino/earlier Benzema etc in the middle?
That’s rubbish. We need goals in the first place.
Also many think he can only work in a transition team, and that we would have to change our style more towarda catching the opponent on the break for Gyokeres to work. Rubbish again.
Best REAL LIFE recent examples are Dembele and Haaland. When you see the way Dembele scores goals in team so strong in possesion, you could imagine Gyokeres scoring many similar goals.
Of course PSG are super strong in transition too, but Gyokeres would open opportunities and spaces we didn’t have before, being super strong on the break, a strong ball carrier also, etc.
Also when you see how effective Haaland was in City, while not being particularly strong in possession, also a strong runner in behind.
When you see how Arteta uses strikers, he’s not forcing anyone into something he can’t play. Laca was doing his twerking, Jesus was everywhere, Havertz is playing similarly as he did at Chelsea, just improved his game.
He won’t force Gyokeres into something he can’t do and I’m sure he knows better than us what Gyokeres offers.
I ignored it the first time but I’m on the verge of losing it if I see another post about playing with your back to goal and holding up the ball being some false 9 thing. 
These are basics skills for a 9. Very likely you’re confusing being a target man to a false 9.
This move does bring some important questions. Can he play as a false 9? For example, can he play with his back to goal or hold the ball up?
As OA influencer #1 I influence you to stop.
To be fair in this kind of set up with the objective to dominate possession - a false 9/target man is kind of essential to create triangles, combine through the middle, keep possession. Patrick Kluivert was the quintessential type of striker for this kind of set up who possessed all those qualities. Those nerdball guys have a point, but it’s something is known. Ajax, who are the frontrunners of what Guardiola/Arteta/Enrique are doing, has always played with a false 9/target man type striker for that reason. Cruijff was Messi before Messi.
Obviously Guardiola and Enrique have shown with Aguero/Haaland and Dembele there are other options but those teams have an abundance of creativity I don’t feel like we have as of yet. We are more dependent on the system working if that make sense.
I think he could do a very good job as a false 9, recieving the ball in a bit deeper positions from where he could run at people, use his very good ball caryying and dribbling skills. Kinda in a way Dembele does if for PSG.
Not very good with the hold up though. I wouldn’t rely too heavily on him in that sense.
He can play with his back to the goal pretty well.
We better wrap this deal soon before Liverpool get any funny ideas and throw their hat in for Gyokeres.
It is strange that the best team in transition last season hasn’t looked at someone like him that thrives in it.