Vieira reveals ‘concern’ about one Arsenal signing after loss to Manchester United
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira thinks Viktor Gyokeres’ lack of goals is a “concern” for the Gunners after they lost 3-2 to Manchester United on Sunday.
The Gunners came from 2-1 down to level the game up at 2-2 on 84 minutes through Mikel Merino but a brilliant Matheus Cunha strike three minutes later won the match for the Red Devils.
Arsenal are leading the Premier League but Manchester City and Aston Villa – who occupy second and third place – closed the gap to just four points over the weekend, piling pressure on Mikel Arteta’s side.
Unlike Man City, who have Erling Haaland, Arsenal have not had a dominant goalscorer this season with Gyokeres scoring five Premier League goals.
After signing from Sporting CP, where he scored 97 goals in 102 appearances, more was expected of Gyokeres in front of goal and Vieira insists it has now become a “concern” for Arsenal.
Vieira said on Sky Sports: “Of course it is a concern because you want your No. 9 to score goals. You want them to get into double figures and that’s not the case right now.
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“That is the concern but Arsenal are still top of the league so that means they are doing something good. It’s a collective game and there’s a lot of players with four or five goals.
“They need to create more for the strikers and put them in better positions to create chances and score goals. By doing that maybe you need the ball in the box more rather than recycling the ball.
“They have a physical presence so they need more balls in the box and more players in the box.”
Former Arsenal captain Vieira has queried the mental strength that Arteta’s group possess after lacking energy and the willingness to take risks.
Vieira added: “They are still four points clear, but there are still questions about the mental strength of the team.
“It’s not just that they lost the game, it’s the way they lost the game. (Bukayo) Saka and (Leandro) Trossard didn’t produce enough to worry United.
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“They need a leader to lift the spirit of the team. They need to understand when they are on the pitch they have to play with more energy and more risks. They have the quality.
“They didn’t play with the freedom to express themselves. They need to go back to the basics and to express themselves, play with freedom, and go forward.
“There were too many players that didn’t perform today. It was a must-win game. They needed to send a message to the rest of the teams in the league.”
Arteta was asked about Vieira’s criticism after the match, the Arsenal boss replied: “That’s fine, we accept every opinion, where it comes and where it’s coming from and they will have the right reasons to say it,’ Arteta said.
“At the end we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to a match day and we were absolutely brilliant in Milan and today we weren’t that good.
“I don’t know if it was mental because of how much they played, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game against a team that, when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time and that was the difference.”
