‘Vanilla’ Viktor Gyokeres gets his first pundit hammering after anonymous Arsenal debut

Viktor Gyokeres has been given a kicking from the punditry world after a lacklustre debut for Arsenal against Manchester United.

The Swede’s time at the Gunners began with 60 minutes of anonymous football as the £63.5m signing failed to even register a shot, prompting many to already declare him a waste of money.

Football punditry being the reactionary world that it is means the 27-year-old has already got his first press hammering with ex-managers and players queuing up to stick the boot in.

First up, we have former Newcastle and Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew, who said Gyokeres was “poor” after he was “expecting a little bit more.”

“Well, poor. I think you can’t gloss it up any more than that,” the Wembley touchline dancer said on talkSPORT.

“He looked not quite at it, whether he was nervous or whatever… it didn’t look what I was expecting because I’m a big fan of his. I was expecting a little bit more from him today.

“And I think at 60 minutes to get subbed was, you know, what I would have expected with this performance.

“Maybe he felt he should have had a little bit longer, but no, that wasn’t the best. I’m surprised.”

Former Arsenal right-back Lee Dixon described the striker as “vanilla” although did admit “there’s a player there.”

“He was a bit vanilla,” Dixon told BBC 5 Live. “Players have to fall into the team. When a new player comes in he’s trying so hard to make an impact.

“The patterns just didn’t seem to work for him. There’s a player there, there’s no doubt about it. His goal record is fantastic and that’s why Mikel signed him.”

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Matt Le Tissier took a break from Twitter conspiracy theories to say he was “slightly concerned” about his fellow striker but said he should only be concerned if the same happens again next week at home to Leeds.

“Viktor Gyokeres has his debut under his belt, and it wasn’t a particularly impressive one, it has to be said,” the one-club man told Football Insider.

“No shots on goal, which is slightly concerning, but they were playing Manchester United away, and the result is the most important thing.

“They picked up the three points, so he’s going to be happy, but slightly concerned.

“I would say to him that he should only be concerned if, after next week’s home game with Leeds, he still hasn’t had a shot.

“That’s the kind of game where he’ll pick up more chances. Against Manchester United away and against all of the big teams away, it’s going to be difficult to create chances.

“All I’d say to him is don’t be too frustrated, it’s very early days and things will improve.”

Not all of the pundits were willing to pile in just yet though, with more measured approaches coming from Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.

Lineker, who knows a thing or two about making a good impression having scored twice in his first game for Barcelona, said it was more a team problem than something Gyokeres had done wrong.

“It was a tough start for him, he didn’t really get a kick,” Lineker said on his The Rest Is Football podcast.

“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.

“Obviously he [Gyokeres] came off after just over an hour with barely touching the ball, but that happens for a striker sometimes.”

Shearer, who scored twice in his first Premier League games, said he needs “time to adjust” and said he looked good off the ball.

“It was a tough afternoon for him. We can’t judge him yet; he’s going to need time to adjust.

“Obviously, across the ground, he looks really quick, strong and powerful, but he hardly had any touches in and around the 18-yard box. He’s going to have to get used to a different style of play.”

Gary Neville, who was on co-comms for the game, was one of the more positive voices, saying he thought Gyokeres “looked a handful” and that Arsenal “lost their attacking threat completely” when he was substituted.

“I thought Gyokeres actually looked a handful,” Neville said.

“I thought he did some good things. I’m actually surprised he came off. I thought Arsenal… they didn’t change defensively when the substitutes were made, but they lost their attacking threat completely when Gyokeres went off.”

Neville’s former United colleague Rio Ferdinand also defended Gyokeres, pointing out the Swede has barely had much pre-season training.

“I’ve seen some of the comments, people saying Gyokeres doesn’t look the part – early in the season, give him five or six games minimum, just to get up to speed,” Ferdinand said.

“Give him time to get up to speed fitness-wise, he’s got to get fit.

“He probably hasn’t trained with a team since he got to Arsenal because he demanded to leave – bit like Isak now, he won’t be training with the team, he’ll be on his own at Newcastle. The depth now, Havertz coming on, Arsenal have a real opportunity now.”

Daniel Sturridge was constructive in his criticism of the player, saying Arsenal needed to give him the Erling Haaland treatment if they wanted him to start scoring freely.

“I think they need to score different types of goals to take the next step – more penetrative passes in the central areas, which, in turn, will give Gyokeres more opportunities to score,” the former Chelsea and Liverpool striker said on Sky Sports.

“I think a lot of the goals he will end up scoring will be like the ones Haaland scores: one-touch finishes in the box, poaching in the six-yard area.

“I also think he thrives, similar to Haaland, off those penetrative passes around the box, which give him the chance to make a burst over a few yards and get his shot off.”

Danny Murphy, meanwhile, said he “felt for” the player but pointed out that the other creative players “weren’t quite at the races.”

“I felt for Viktor Gyokeres a bit,” Murphy told the BBC. “The stats aren’t good but that’s because he’s relying on other players to get him the ball.

“Arsenal have got brilliant creative players but they weren’t quite at the races. It was a low-key performance and their main creators were not feeding him.

“Let him settle in, any player needs to build up relationships with other players, especially forwards.”

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