Morning all.
Alleluia! Arsenal have finally signed a goal scoring machine. A proper striker rather than a winger come striker or a midfielder come striker. A 6’ 2” international striker who scores goals for fun!! He’s 27 years old, so no spring chicken when it comes to how Arsenal have usually operated under Mikel Arteta but so what, Ian Wright was nearly 28 when he moved from Crystal Palace to the Arsenal. That’s not the only similarity really as both players had/have an enormous appetite for scoring goals. Gyokeres himself said he wants to prove to himself more than anything, that he can be just as formidable in Premier League as he has been in Portugal.
You do that Viktor, you do just that!
I always want to score. To be a part of this club and to score in this kit and with this badge in front of all the supporters, I can’t wait. It will be an amazing feeling. I started here [in England], it feels like a long time ago. I think I’ve improved a lot since then. Now I want to prove myself for real and perform together with the team.
It’s a big honour to play for your country, and then to score goals for them is amazing. When I played at Sporting, I scored a few goals in the Champions League so I feel that I can be on that level as well. Now to come here to a club on Arsenal’s level, I think it’s going to help me perform even better with all the amazing players in this team. I’m really excited to get going.
There will always be critics of Arsenal signings and Gyokeres is no different. It’s what we humans often do. We look at the negative instead of the positive. Like the Portuguese league is nowhere near as strong as the Premiership or Gyokeres won’t be afforded the kind of time and space he was at Sporting but, I think defenders and defences in general will be fearing him. Perhaps to the point where they focus too much on him, leaving gaps elsewhere. No team can double/triple up on Gyokeres, Saka and Martinelli at the same time without leaving gaps for other Arsenal players to exploit.
The highest goal scorer in any one season under Arteta is Aubameyang with 22. No one has come close since. My hunch is that Gyokeres will surpass that number in his first season.
Straight after signing his Arsenal contract, he jumped on a flight to Asia where he’ll join up with his new teammates. I suspect Gabriel and William Saliba will give him a bit of friendly stick about not being able to get the better of either back in November of last year.
Mikel Arteta:
Viktor has so many qualities. He is a quick and powerful presence up front, with incredible goalscoring numbers at club and international levels. He brings a clinical edge with a high conversion rate of chances into goals, with his intelligent movement in the box making him a constant threat. We’re excited about what Viktor brings to our squad and are looking forward to start working with him.
All I can say to that is why has it taken him and the club nearly six years to sign someone with such attributes when every other club in the Premier League has? Admittedly, not all have been a success story but that’s a different matter.
Gyokeres won’t be available for today’s match against Newcastle Utd as he’d have not long landed when the game kicks off but I’d imagine we’ll get a first sighting of Cristhian Mosquera.
A couple of hours after Arsenal’s second friendly in Singapore, the Women’s Euros Final kicks off 5pm when England take on Spain. Seven Arsenal players are likely to be involved.
By the end, either six Arsenal players will be European International Champions or just one.
Good luck England, bring it home. Again….
Catch up in the comments…
Morning Campers, morning Rico.
‘The Different Knock’ on YouTube has posted a good video today covering the tier1/tier2 debate and how he thinks Arteta is planning his squad, worth a watch if you get the chance. Not everyone will agree but it’s a view.
Adrian Clarke is now posting YouTube vids and he is very good from a tactical analysis point of view.
Yeah, a good day for sport today, the cricket is going to be very tense, India won’t want to go to the Oval 3-1 down…
Morning Kev.
Good weather conditions for England. 🤞
I might watch that on YouTube..
A word of warning, everything you say on line is monitored by the N I I I. That’s Kier Starmers latest attempt to stifle free speech. National Internet Intelligence Investigations team. I kid you not.
What a w****r that bloke is. Cooper is no better with her number limits on boats, just stop the bloody things..
Cicero, what else would you expect from a bunch of politicians, it’s all about them holding onto the reins of power. But if was the Tories who put this bill together.
I sincerely hope and pray that the Conservative Party suffers the type of annihilation that befell the Liberals in the last century at the next General Election, because they thoroughly deserve it.
It’s because of their incompetence and duplicity that we have the current government…
Stick that in your pipe N.I.I.I.
Good morning Rico and guys
This is quite sweet …..
https://www.facebook.com/reel/767405335753547
off to read the post. I’m already salivating with anticipation of the VG14
1
Raya
33
Calafiori
4
White
49
Lewis-Skelly
2
Saliba
23
Merino
22
Nwaneri
36
Martín Zubimendi
7
Saka
19
Trossard
29
Havertz
89
M. Salmon
48
J. Nichols
51
A. Rojas
35
T. Setford
38
L. Copley
71
A. Harriman-Annous
13
Kepa
17
Zinchenko
11
Martinelli
24
R. Nelson
43
Kabia
8
Odegaard
56
M. Dowman
41
Rice
28
A. Sambi Lokonga
16
C. Nørgaard
15
Kiwior
That’s quite a room of numbers Kev. Are they meant for Super 5 or Super 6?? hehe
Brilliant Post Rico. Fingers crossed you got a couple more like that.
For now I like the VG14 attitude. Maybe a point to prove as you said. Maybe about 240 points (or goals) to prove would be even better.
Arsenal can register a 25 man squad for the upcoming Premier League season. Here is the current squad situation as of July 27th.
Arsenal’s Current Squad: 24 out of 25
Non Home Grown: 15/17
Kepa, Timber, Gabriel, Kiwior, Calafiori, Zinchenko, Nørgaard, Odegaard, Lokonga, Vieira, Merino, Trossard, Jesus, Havertz, Gyökeres,
Home Grown: 9
Raya, Hein, Saliba, White, Rice, Saka, Nelson, Martinelli, Madueke
Under 21s do not need to be registered.
Morning Rico and all.
Just watch the 2 youtube clips that Kev mentioned. interesting points on both sites with most comments the same as we all said sometime during last season, especially the one that talks about us needing to make a quicker break from goal kick in’s. I personally hope we also work on faster throw in’s as we are so slow at times it allows the opposition to man up.
https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=772962605257923
Viktor Gyokeres being presented to the fans at Singapore
0-1 down.
Kepa will be thinking when, not if… 😜
Afternoon Devil, Geoff
Mosquera 3
Madueke 20
Still no number for Gyokeres.
I was just about to moan about Merino going to ground too easily and then he does that. Nice finish.
14 Cicero
Unless he’s waiting for no.9
2-1 great strike from their defender 😂
1-1
Merino shows everyone that when you have the instict it will never die.
Alex Murphy snaps up a half chance for an own goal.
2-1
1 shot on target for Arsenal 2 goals. its like someone aiming once and getting twins.
Triplets???
Zubimendi….a true Arsenal man….he got his first yellow for the shirt
Alex Murphy slamming the ball into his own net was a bit hilarious to me
It felt like he was telling the Arsenal players, ‘this is what you have to do to score. You have to mean it and smash it in.’
That’s a half Myles will do well to forget asap …
What a clever buy Merino has proven to be; I can’t help but wonder what’ll become of him, and/or Kai, once the big Swede will have found his feet
(Along with Bukayo, of course), they’ve been our most reliable goalscorers lately.
Might this mean the end of being a sure starter for Ødegaard? Or is there a change in the setup on the horizon?
A kind of 4-3-2-1 like
Raya (Kepa)
White (Timber) – Saliba – Gabriel – Calafiori (Myles)
Zubi – Merino – Rice
Saka-Kai (Ødegaard – Nwaneri)
Viktor
???
A very interesting start of the season it’s going to be indeed
There are good photos of fans in Singapore wearing the new shirt with Gyokeres name on the back with the number 14, I hope he gets that number or their maybe some cheap shirts available soon.
I can’t see Arteta dropping Odegaard, he likes him too much.
Odegaard makes it 3.
So no dropping him then.
MAx Dowman’s close control and running at defenders and quick thinking can easily draw fouls and penalties.
Good result in a meaningless match. One goal, one own goal and one penalty, two goals conceded.
The cricket has just about come to a standstill and the Grand Prix hasn’t even started due to rain. 😕
Final score Arsenal 3 NUFC 2
A good result. Minutes for everyone. 22 players used.
I expect a different starting 11 vs the spuds. Maybe Kepa begins now.
I quite enjoyed the presence of those from Hale End.
I keep thinking there’s something Cruijff-esque about Dowman’s runs, and you’re right about the fouls, C.
We lost last season’s Youth Cup game against M.U., only because the ref gave them absolute license to foul him non-stop. I gave up counting them at some point but given he number of times they mowed him down – and even though they “rotated”, which means it was actually part of their game plan – there’s no way they should have ended up with more than nine players on the pitch
Did we win the penalty shootout?
ooooppppssss
I turned off the game at the final whistle
I forgot the penalties loooooollll
Dowman gets the plaudits. Rightly deserved imo. Fingers crossed he is not overplayed but taken care of so he reaches the full potential
https://www.skysports.com/football/arsenal-vs-newcastle/report/529436