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Viktor Gyokeres has come under a lot of criticism after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.
The Swede, in our opinion, was one of Arsenal’s better players at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, but many people on social media are taking their anger out on him.
That is really unfair because the problem against the Cherries was not Gyokeres; it was the players behind him. This has been the case all season.
The former Sporting CP man has done more than almost every other Arsenal attacker in their debut season since the Premier League began – and one stat proves it.
Who was Arsenal’s worst performer against Bournemouth?
Viktor Gyokeres is only behind Thierry Henry and Alexis Sanchez in a key Arsenal stat
Arsenal have had some incredible attackers in their history.
Icons like Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright and Nicolas Anelka have donned the famous red and white, and they are among the greatest ever.
However, none of them had a better debut season at Arsenal than Viktor Gyokeres.
The Swede scored his 18th goal of the season on Saturday in the defeat to Bournemouth, which is a phenomenal return when you look at the history books.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
In the Premier League era, only Thierry Henry in 1999/00 (26) and Alexis Sanchez in 2014/15 (25) scored more in their debut campaign. (Opta)
What makes Gyokeres’ tally all the more impressive is that both Henry and Sanchez played in Arsene Wenger’s free-flowing attacking system.
The former Sporting man has had to do it in Mikel Arteta’s side, whose attackers still have almost zero cohesion between them.
The stat above proves that Gyokeres is playing out of his skin right now, and he should be praised for his goals instead of being blamed for all the problems at Arsenal.
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Credit: Getty Images/Glyn KIRK /AFP Viktor Gyokeres needs help but he’s not getting it at Arsenal
One of the most interesting moments during the game between Arsenal and Bournemouth was when Gyokeres was played through on goal and scored, but it was ruled out for offside.
The striker was just a few centimetres offside, but what that action showed was his ability to get in behind.
Since the start of the season, the Arsenal players behind him have put him through on goal only a handful of times, which is just not enough.
On Saturday, if that pass had been made half a second quicker, the Gunners wouldn’t have lost that game.
That is why all the criticism of Gyokeres doesn’t make sense to us. He needs more help than he is getting, and unless that changes, Arsenal will continue to struggle in attack.
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