BBC Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has delivered a frank assessment of Arsenal's struggling striker Viktor Gyokeres, identifying a crucial area where the Swede must improve to start justifying his hefty £64 million price tag.
The Goal-Scoring Discrepancy
Gyokeres arrived in North London last summer with a phenomenal record, having netted 97 goals in just 102 appearances for Sporting Lisbon. That staggering form convinced Arsenal to make a major investment in the forward.
However, his transition to the Premier League has been difficult. In 15 appearances for the Gunners, Gyokeres has found the net only five times. A deeper look reveals further concern: two of those goals were penalties, and four came in matches against relegation-threatened sides Burnley, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United.
His only league goal since the start of November was a spot-kick against Everton last week, highlighting a worrying dry spell for Mikel Arteta's key signing.
Lineker's Diagnosis: A Lack of Gamble
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast with Micah Richards, Lineker provided a detailed technical critique. He observed that Gyokeres often waits to see where a cross is going before making his move, a habit more typical of defenders than elite strikers.
"As a striker you've got to gamble on where you think the ball might go," Lineker stated. "You go just as they're about to cross it. You steal a march on the defender that way."
He admitted that often the ball won't arrive, but the constant movement and anticipation are what separate prolific scorers from the rest. Lineker lamented, "I don't see him doing that very often."
The Calvert-Lewin Blueprint
To illustrate his point, Lineker pointed to Leeds United forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin's recent form as the perfect example. Calvert-Lewin scored for the sixth successive Premier League match last weekend, equalising against Sunderland with a classic near-post run.
"He didn't wait to see where it was going to go," Lineker explained. "He went right, pulled away, and then sprinted at the near post and hoped that the ball would be delivered there—and it was."
Lineker placed this instinct in the same bracket as world-class forwards like Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Robert Lewandowski, all of whom master the art of anticipating deliveries into the box.
Shearer and Arteta Acknowledge Adaptation Period
Former England striker Alan Shearer concurred with Lineker's analysis on the podcast. He suggested Gyokeres's task would be easier with traditional wingers, but emphasised the forward must not become disheartened and must keep making those speculative runs.
Shearer also noted that Gyokeres and his new teammates are likely still adapting to each other's games—a point Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has acknowledged publicly.
Defending his player earlier this month, Arteta cited a lack of pre-season and a subsequent injury as factors in the striker's slow start. "We need to continue to tweak and understand him a little bit better in certain situations and he needs to do the same," Arteta said. "But that's about time and we have full support for him."
The spotlight will firmly be on Gyokeres on Tuesday night as league leaders Arsenal host a crunch clash against Aston Villa at the Emirates. Unai Emery's side are just three points behind, and the Gunners will be desperate for their record signing to rediscover his scoring touch and prove Lineker's advice has been taken on board.
