Viktor Gyokeres is hoping to fire Arsenal to the Premier League title and help them win the Champions League this season, but the pressure has been cranked up after two domestic cup exits
Mikel Arteta wants Viktor Gyokeres to handle the tough times(Image: Oli SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Viktor Gyokeres admits that ‘nerves’ have the potential to derail Arsenal’s title hopes – but only if they fail to harness them in the right way. Gyokeres, 27, and his team-mates are top of the Premier League table by nine points with only seven games to go.
The Gunners are also unbeaten in the Champions League and have one foot in the semi-finals thanks to Tuesday’s late 1-0 win against Sporting Lisbon. But following their recent defeat by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and loss at Southampton in the FA Cup last weekend, there’s even more pressure on Arsenal to deliver.
Mikel Arteta’s side have been accused of playing with fear in recent weeks, and while Gyokeres understands the nerves, he believes that they can be a force for good. In an exclusive interview with football.londonthe striker explained: “I think if you feel nerves, I think it means that it matters for you.
“I think it’s not bad if you take it in the right way and you put that energy in the right direction. So to have nerves, I think it’s not a bad thing. It’s just bad if you convert it into something negative, and it depends on how you handle those emotions.”
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After signing Gyokeres from Sporting in a deal worth up to £64million last summer, Arteta told the Sweden international that he must handle going through dry spells in front of goal. “I told him, before the first meeting, the (number) nine that I want is a nine that when he doesn’t score for six or eight games, he can handle that,” Arteta said in October.
“If not, we have to go somewhere else because the pressure, the expectation is going to be there so if you put on the number nine shirt for Arsenal, you have to be able to say, ‘six games, don’t score, am I a different player? And start to act in a different way.”
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Although now certainly isn’t a dry spell, having scored five goals in his last four games for club and country, the former Coventry City star is heeding his manager’s advice. “It’s always the best feeling if we win games and I score as many goals as I can in the game, that’s the best feeling as a striker, no matter what anyone says,” Gyokeres said.
“I think everyone who plays as a nine wants that, but then that’s not the reality. You’re going to have games where you don’t score, maybe you didn’t get the chances, or you didn’t take them.
“Just stay focused and be ready because it’s going to come. And when it comes, you have to be ready.”
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