Suppose you were designing the ideal Arsenal game for Viktor Gyokeres, what would it look like? You would want his team mates parked in the final third, weaving intricate patterns before Martin Odegaard played the killer through ball. You don't want to rely on Gyokeres' hold up play, his passing or his pressing.
You just want to set up camp where you can feed the guy who is supposed to be your bagsman and he can, well, bag. This 1-0 win at Napoli was not far off that vision of an ideal Gyokeres game. Before the Swede was withdrawn in the 74th minute with the scores level, Arsenal had had 287 final third touches to Napoli's 42, Odegaard alone with 50% more possession in those dangerous areas than his opponents in their entirety.
The Gunners weren't just knocking on the door, they'd brought sledgehammers to break down Massimiliano Allegri's rearguard. They just were swinging them in all sorts of wild directions. That was not necessarily a Gyokeres failing.
Arsenal's problem in the first three-quarters of this game was that Mikel Merino, Piero Hincapie and Bukayo Saka missed a string of chances in increasingly ludicrous fashion. Saka in particular has rarely had such a promising opportunity as the left footed close range 0;7 xG shot that he somehow contrived to lift over Alex Meret's bar. Clearly these players in those moments should have done much better.
Then again at least they got in positions to miss those chances. Gyokeres ended this game without a shot to his name, a dubious honor he shared only with Ezri Konsa and David Raya, and with fewer penalty box touches than full backs Hincapie and Ben White. There were also four shots that he teed up though only the 70th minute opening for Christos Tzolis off the back of a smart interception constituted an inviting chance from which Arsenal might have scored.
Now of course there are qualities that any center forward can bring to the game that are not necessarily captured in the data. Off ball movement and runs in behind can create space for others even if the ball does not come to the striker. When the ball is in the final third, pinning your center back and darting around the penalty area might create avenues for others.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
