Arsenal hero Paul Merson had praise for Viktor Gyokeres after his brace in the win over Atletico Madrid, but still had a worry over the Swede’s performance.
The summer signing from Sporting scored twice in the Gunners’ 4-0 Champions League win over Atletico at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
It was a huge win for Mikel Arteta’s side and vital for the striker after a slow start to life with his new club after his £64m switch.
Gyokeres had failed to score in seven games for Arsenal before Tuesday evening, which was starting to constitute a goal drought early in his Gunners career.
He has now taken his tally to five goals in 12 appearances and Merson was full of praise for the forward’s work ethic and unselfish play.
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However, the game was goalless at half-time and Gyokeres had touched the ball just nine times, with none of those touches coming within the Atletico Madrid penalty box, which Merson admits is a worry for a striker.
‘The icing on the cake was Gyokeres getting two goals,’ Merson told Sky Sports. ‘As a centre-forward you want to score goals even though you’re working hard and the crowd are clapping everything he does.
‘First half, nine touches and not one in the box, that’s a worry.
‘But come the second half, you know what I like? He just keeps on going and going, he ain’t all about himself, he’s about the team. If he gets the ball down the channel he’ll play the easy ball for the team, he won’t try and cut inside and have a 30-yard shot that’s never, ever going to go in.
‘Good team player, for me, you’d want him on your team.’
Premier League legend Alan Shearer raised the same concern, saying on Amazon Prime at half-time: ‘I would like to see them involve Viktor Gyokeres more. He’s only had nine touches, none in the box.
‘That’s pretty alarming for any centre forward at any level. They need to get him in the game and find him a little bit earlier. There’s no problem with his work-rate , his closing down and his defensive duties.
‘But they haven’t paid that money for him just to work hard and do defensive duties. They paid that money for him to score goals so they need to feed him more.’
Of course Gyokeres came good in the second half, scoring twice, as Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli also found the back of the net.
Arteta said of the Sweden international: ‘He deserved it because everything that we were seeing in terms of what he was bringing to the team and how much he was helping the team in many areas, apart from scoring goals in the last few weeks, there was no debate about that.
‘It was about keeping that belief in himself, that emotional state that he can enjoy and play freely.
‘I think he has certainly done that today, [he had] a big smile on his face.
Viktor Gyokeres Premier League stats
Apps: 8
Goals: 3
Assists: 0
‘Look at his teammates as well, in the picture and the video, they are all so happy for him because he fully deserves it.’
Gyokeres was asked what would represent a good first season at Arsenal and told CBS Sports: ‘First and foremost of course we want to win trophies, that’s the most important. Of course I want to contribute with goals and improve my game in terms of playing also.’
Arsenal’s win kept up their perfect start to the Champions League campaign with three victories from three games, while they also sit top of the Premier League table.