Viktor Gyokeres was surprised to hear criticism of him in Sweden’s 5-1 win over Tunisia at the World Cup, defending his performance in the dominant victory.
Graham Potter’s side had a nightmare qualification process, failing to win a game in their group, but have made it to the World Cup thanks to a Nations League play-off.
Their struggles appeared to be behind them in their opener in Monterrey as they walloped Tunisia and got off to a dream start in their Group F campaign.
Tougher tests are to come against Netherlands and Japan but confidence is high after goals from Yasin Ayarai (2), Alexander Isak, Gyokeres and Mattias Svanberg.
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The opening victory could scarcely have gone much better, but former Sweden midfielder turned pundit, Martin Aslund, had some criticism for Arsenal’s centre-forward during the game.
Aslund posted on X after an attack came to nothing: ‘What the hell, Gyokeres. He’s gotta release the ball quicker.
‘Sure, he often has a less than great first touch that means he needs more time, but he should still be able to let it go faster in a few of those situations. Isak should’ve had a breakaway there.’
The comment was put to Gyokeres after the match and he said, via Sportbladet: ‘I got one assist and could have got two more. I don’t know how many assists you should get in a game.’
Sweden have a dangerous front two in Gyokeres and Isak, with Potter putting a formation together to play both centre-forwards.
The Arsenal and Liverpool superstars assisted each other against Tunisia and Gyokeres is happy to talk up the partnership.
‘It was good as usual,’ he said. ‘As I said earlier, we have had good cooperation before and we have good again.’
Potter, who took charge of the struggling Sweden side in October, talked up Gyokeres’ potential for a big World Cup ahead of the Tunisia clash.
‘He’s obviously had a fantastic season,’ Potter said of Gyokeres’ 21-goal campaign for Arsenal.
‘We want to use him to his best, try and get the most out of him. Because if we do, then he gives us a chance to win football matches. That’s for sure.’
After the big win in Mexico, the former Chelsea boss said: ‘I think it was a fantastic evening for us, a fantastic start. A solid performance that allowed Alex and Viktor to show their qualities, which they did. We were defensively solid, got goals from midfield and had good substitutions.
‘I’m happy for the players. They’ve worked hard in recent weeks and made strides. All credit to them. As a coach you know when the team is developing, but you also have to win. We weren’t perfect, but we knew we wouldn’t be.
‘I was a little disappointed with the goal we conceded, but that’s what can happen. We were mature in the second half, especially considering we lack experience from the World Cup.’