Mikel Arteta sent a clear message to the Arsenal board with substitution decision vs Aston Villa
Arsenal won 1-0 at Villa Park on Monday night to continue their perfect start to their title defence.
Bukayo Saka got the all-important winner, but it wasn’t an amazing performance by any stretch, particularly going forward.
Kai Havertz was preferred once again as the striker, but unlike the Coventry display, he was pretty poor, by his own standards at least.
Such a performance would usually prompt the manager to make a change, to bring on a fresh option and inject some energy into the attack.
Mikel Arteta has a £64million striker on the bench, and a player who scored 21 goals last season. But he chose not to bring him on. Again.
Mikel Arteta chose not to bring Viktor Gyokeres on against Aston Villa
Viktor Gyokeres is yet to feature in the Premier League this season. He hasn’t played a single minute across Arsenal’s first two games.
The same player who was top scorer for the Premier League champions last season cannot get onto the pitch, even on a night where the striker on the pitch is struggling.
It’s strange, and perhaps we’re reaching here, but could Arteta be deliberately making a point to the board?
It’s clear this Arsenal attack needs something more. That was the primary objective at the start of this summer window.
But so far, only Christos Tzolis has been brought in — who also struggled on the night — despite Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus all leaving. Arsenal have arguably made their attack worse than last season.
Links to Julian Alvarez have simmered all the way through the summer and fans will be desperately hoping the club can pull the signing off on deadline day.
Choosing not to lean on Gyokeres even when it feels obvious to do so might just be a tactical decision by Arteta. But could it not be a statement from the Arsenal manager?
We know he clearly views Havertz as his first choice striker, especially in the bigger games.
But not using Gyokeres at all across two Premier League games, in situations where his directness and physicality could have made a difference feels significant.
Say what you want about the Swede, but Villa felt like the ideal game for him, considering how much space they leave in behind. And it was strange to not to bring him on when 3-0 up against Coventry, his former club, on the opening night.
If Gyokeres was genuinely part of Arteta’s plans for this season, he is on that pitch at some point in the last two games. Make of that what you will.
Could he be being kept on ice for a potential deadline day move? Alvarez in, Gyokeres out? It feels unlikely with 24 hours remaining. But stranger things have happened
