Michael Owen has raised fresh doubts over Viktor Gyokeres and has questioned whether he’s the best man to guide the Arsenal attack within the long-term.
The summer signing from Sporting Lisbon has taken time to adapt to the demands of English football and endured a difficult begin to his Gunners profession.
Adjusting to the tactical nuisances of Mikel Arteta’s tactics had also proved problematic but increasingly the signs over the previous few weeks have indicated the 27-year-old can have turned a major corner.
A perfectly taken brace against Tottenham in Sunday’s north London derby demolition suggested the Sweden international is growing in confidence.
Indeed, no top flight striker has scored more goals in all competitions because the turn of the yr, but Owen stays unconvinced Gyokeres isn’t anything greater than a short-term solution.
‘I like this lad in so many points but I feel he’s got so many weaknesses as well,’ the previous Liverpool and England centre forward told Premier League Productions.
‘To be Arsenal’s centre forward for the long-term, am I getting carried away about only one game? No I’m not, I still think the questions are on the market.
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‘What you can not query with this lad is his work rate. He’s a implausible runner, he times his runs well. He knows where the goal is, he arcs his runs well to remain onside and he’s lethal in front of goal. He’s considered one of the highest finishers within the Premier League.
‘This yr I feel he’s top goalscorer in he Premier League, this calendar yr. He’s coming right into a little bit of form just after they need him.’
With the Manchester City juggernaut build up a head of steam, if Arsenal are to achieve success undoubtedly they are going to need Gyokeres to maintain up his run of scoring form, particularly in light of the uncertainty over Kai Havertz’s durability.
‘They definitely do need him to be in form,’ added Owen’s fellow pundit, Ashley Young.
‘You’re going into probably the most vital a part of the season now. If you’ve got City respiration down your necks you would like your striker to be scoring goals.
‘If he’s scoring this many goals this yr up to now you would like him keep constructing, keep that confidence, keep being in front of goal and ending like the way in which he has.’
Gyokeres, meanwhile, believes Arsenal’s statement derby win was the ‘perfect response’ to silence the club’s critics.
Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze each scored twice to secure a 4-1 triumph just 4 days after Arsenal were rocked by a 2-2 draw at Wolves.
The dropped points at Molineux led to questions on Arsenal’s title mentality. Nonetheless, their performance against Tottenham – which took them five points clear of Manchester City at the highest of the Premier League – went some solution to silencing the doubters.
Gyokeres said: ‘t’s all the time going to be difficult if you get a result like we had at Wolves, nevertheless it’s the way you handle that, and the way you reply to it, and today we showed that it in an excellent way.
‘To get this result and this performance, it was the right solution to respond. So, it’s an excellent sign. The thing is, that we have now to maintain showing it in the subsequent game and the sport after that. There’s a variety of games to go. But when we perform like this, it’s going to be good, needless to say.’
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