After watching Viktor Gyokeres come off the bench to score twice against Sunderland, Mikel Arteta said the Swede’s ability to navigate both the highs and lows of life as a striker is paying dividends.
Following a run of one goal in 11 Premier League appearances, the summer signing has struck three times in his last two games and recorded eight goal contributions across his last eight outings in all competitions. It’s a surge in form that is helping to drive the Gunners clear at the top of the table, where they’ve opened up a nine-point lead in the hunt for a first league title in 22 years.
Facing the media after today’s 3–0 win at the Emirates, Arteta was asked about Gyokeres’ resilience and mental strength.
He said: “He’s the type of character that we expected, and obviously, when you put that shirt on, it comes with a lot of responsibility and huge expectations, and you need to live with that.
“And in your journey here, you’re going to have moments where it goes really well and others that are going to be tough. Because, as well, you have an opponent that plays a part, and he makes it really difficult for you.
“But I love his character, the way he approaches every single day and the fact that he’s so focused on the present, what he has to do, and he has a genuine will to help the team in whatever role he has.”
Gyokeres can appear reserved in interviews, sometimes to the point of seeming aloof, but Arteta believes there’s a level-headedness to the striker that has served him well during a period when many questioned whether he could adapt to the Premier League.
“With Viktor, when you look at him, it’s very difficult to understand his emotion because he looks straight at you and you don’t really know, but he doesn’t seem too affected by whether there are really highs or lows, and that’s what we need, the stability.
“He’s very demanding of himself, he’s constantly trying to improve, and that’s really, really good.”
With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus unavailable, there was significant pressure on Gyokeres to hit the ground running after his move from Sporting Lisbon. While he showed flashes of his talent early on, an injury against Burnley in early November disrupted his rhythm, and it has taken time for him to rediscover confidence in front of goal.
“That’s the magic word,” said Arteta when reflecting on what has changed for the Swede.
“When you feel confident, when you feel important, when you feel at your best, that’s when you can really take your game to the highest level.
“We all try, the first one, the teammates, but all the staff, obviously, really [to be] behind him in every moment to try to help him, to try to support him, and he’s delivering, and he’s in a really good moment now.”
Gyokeres wasn’t the only player to earn praise from his manager. Martin Zubimendi, who opened the scoring with a fizzing low drive off the post, was also namechecked after scoring in consecutive Premier League games.
“He’s contributing now to the team in a way that probably we didn’t expect that much, but he really has an intuition and quality to deliver those moments in and around the box,” noted Arteta.
As for the performance as a whole, the Spaniard added: “Very, very happy obviously with the win, with big parts of the performance, with the clean sheet as well, because it’s a really tough opponent.
“They’re really good at what they do, really good at breaking play, playing to the last line, breaking your press, holding the ball, and it’s very difficult to get sequences with threat and momentum consecutively. But we knew that.
“I think the first goal really helped to unlock that kind of phase, and then again, the finishers, they came on the pitch, and immediately they had a huge impact.”