Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has sent out a strong warning to big-money signing Viktor Gyokeres after he failed to score yet again in the Gunners draw against Nottingham Forest.
Mikel Arteta’s side played out a goalless draw against Nottingham on Saturday as the Gunners missed the chance to move nine points clear at the top of the table.
Gyokeres endured another frustrating evening and his manager wants a positive change as quick as possible. The Sweden International has managed just five Premier League goals since joining the Arsenal in the summer and Arteta wants him to be more ‘decisive’.
Viktor Gyoekeres shoots while under pressure from Murillo of Nottingham Forest. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Arteta admitted afterwards he was disappointed at seeing his team drop points.
He told reporters: “Every week is an opportunity. We want to win every game and if we would have done that, we would have been in a different position. But we made a step, a smaller one than the one we wanted, but it’s a step.”
Gyokeres has scored just once in his last 10 Premier League appearances for Arsenal and Arteta admits he wants more from the striker, telling reporters: “Obviously we want the players to be decisive at this level because we need them to score goals and create moments where we can unlock the door and get an opening which changes the game normally, and we haven’t managed to take that and that’s everybody’s responsibility.
Arteta also admitted that Gyokeres is not the only Arsenal player who needs to sharpen up in front of goal.
He added: Obviously we came here to win the game and we haven’t managed to do that for different reasons. Credit to them, because they are really well organised and they are really good at breaking momentum when you have certain dominance in the game. But the reality is that we created four massive chances as well with [Gabriel] Martinelli an open goal, Declan Rice a tap-in, Mikel [Merino] and the header of Bukayo [Saka], and on top of that obviously a very clear penalty in the box that is not given. So, without conceding a single shot on target, again, the fact that we haven’t won the game is disappointing. On top of that, I think we can do things better, especially in certain attacking areas.”
Gyokeres scored 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting before joining Arsenal in a deal worth £64 million (€74m/$86m).
However, he’s yet to hit the ground running and Arteta’s latest message proves Gyokeres need to turn things around.
