After three appearances for Arsenal in pre-season, Viktor Gyokeres has now made his official debut in red.
Before Arsenal travelled to Old Trafford, there was a lot of talk about whether Mikel Arteta would start either Viktor Gyokeres or Kai Havertz up front.
In truth, Theo Walcott thought Gyokeres would be benched for the opener – he was convinced that Arteta would choose familiarity in the shape of Havertz as his nine.
However, Arteta made the bold call to start Gyokeres immediately, even if he isn’t quite up to speed and in sync with his teammates just yet.
Following his debut, Rio Ferdinand gave his Gyokeres thoughts at full-time, and although the Swede has already received some criticism, the former Manchester United centre-back didn’t seem downbeat at all on his display.
That being said, both Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker have now discussed Gyokeres’ display on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.
Lineker started the chat, describing it as a ‘tough’ start for the striker back in England.
Shearer then concurred, but he did seem quite impressed by some of the Swede’s raw attributes, which should be very useful once he’s adapted to Arsenal’s style.
Lineker initially said: “Gyokeres, it was a tough start for him. He didn’t really get a kick, Arsenal weren’t really free-flowing at all.
“They were miles below their best, but they got their three points, and they’ll be delighted with that.
“They defended really well, but they didn’t offer much going forward, and he obviously came off after just over an hour, 60, 70 minutes, whatever it was, with barely touching the ball.
“But that happens to a striker sometimes.”
Shearer then replied: “It was a tough afternoon for him, and we can’t judge him yet – he’s going to need time to adjust.
“I think he obviously, across the ground, he’s really, really quick, looks really strong and powerful.
“But he hardly had any touches in the 18-yard box, in and around it, did he? So he’s going to have to get used to a different sort of style of play, I guess, with Arsenal.”
With Gyokeres receiving very little service on debut, it was actually Riccardo Calafiori who scored Arsenal’s set-piece goal.
And when speaking at his press conference after the Gunners’ 1-0 win, Arteta seemed extremely happy with his Italian defender, who started in place of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Arteta said: “He has the capacity to change the energy. He comes in the room and he changes the energy in the room, he changes the energy in the team.
“He has an aura, he has a presence that is special. And then he’s a player that is very unpredictable for the opponent because he can occupy very different spaces, he can do things in and around your box, in the middle, in the opposition box, and it’s very difficult to predict. So, I’m very happy with him.
And although Arsenal didn’t play particularly well, they did secure all three points.
Arteta seemed in bullish mood at full-time – he was proud that his Arsenal side were able to win when they weren’t playing well.
And as the cliche goes, that’s what ultimately makes champions come the end of the season.
