Legendary Arsenal striker Thierry Henry offered new Gunners star Viktor Gyokeres valuable advice following the Premier League side’s 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in Europe.
Mikel Arteta’s side made a strong start to their Champions League campaign in Spain, with the Gunners’ much-talked about strength in depth coming to the fore as Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard scored off the bench to secure a confidence-boosting victory.
However, it was Swedish centre forward Gyokeres who drew Henry’s critique during his punditry gig on CBS Sports.
The former Sporting striker, who joined the north London club in a £63million deal this summer, squandered a golden opportunity to put his side ahead in the early stages of the game.
Having beaten the offside trap, Gyokeres thundered his way to the 18-yard box, yet a dismal first touch closed the angle and he failed to trouble opposing goalkeeper Unai Simon.
Pointing at the tactical analysis screen to show where Gyokeres went wrong, Henry explained: ‘The ball has to go here, across the defender. There’s no way that those guys should catch you if you take care of the ball properly.’
‘He’s going to have two chances to do it,’ the former Arsenal striker added. ‘He won’t do it. He doesn’t even look at what’s happening. He’s praying. They are praying. But that first touch is not going to be good.’
Fellow pundit Micah Richards asked Henry: ‘Is that a confidence thing or a technical thing?’
Henry replied: ‘Yes, yes. Look, we all know that he’s been scoring, but away from home, that has to be a goal. He should have had a 1v1. I’m just saying this is the difference between going 1-0 up and still staying 0-0.’
But on the whole, Henry wants fans to be patient with Gyokeres, with expectations high given his goalscoring reputation in Portugal.
Before the game, he told Betway: ‘It’s always unfair because when I talk about a striker, it brings an unnecessary pressure, sometimes, because whenever I say something it goes above and beyond.
‘What I would say about Gyokeres is that you saw his goal against Athletic Club the other day. That instinct and understanding to anticipate the cross, a great header with soft touch to guide it to the other side of the goal – he is a proper No. 9. That’s the goal of a 9.
‘He is not a Firmino type of 9 that’s going to drop into midfield. He wants to be in the box, in between the posts, and he said it himself – please put the ball in the box and serve me.
‘You have a guy that’s a killer in the box – numbers don’t lie – and you have a team that create a lot of chances, so it should be the perfect match, but you have to also understand that sometimes it doesn’t click straight away.’
