Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher clashed over Viktor Gyokeres' future role at Arsenal following the striker's debut against Manchester United. The heated Sky Sports exchange revealed contrasting views on whether the Sweden international will feature in Arsenal's biggest matches this season.
Jamie Carragher shocked his fellow pundit by predicting that Mikel Arteta will favour Kai Havertz over Gyokeres when Arsenal face their top rivals. The former Liverpool defender argued that Havertz remains too important to drop from crucial fixtures.
"If I'm being honest, I think they go back to Havertz in the biggest games, I think that will be the case," Carragher said. "I can see Gyokeres playing and scoring goals."
Gary Neville strongly disagreed with this assessment, insisting Arsenal cannot afford to bench their major summer signing. "He can't leave Gyokeres out of big games," Neville responded.
Carragher doubled down on his position with a firm rebuttal. "He can," he said. "I think Havertz is too important a player for Mikel Arteta to be left out. I don't see that happening at all."
Debut struggles fuel debate
Gyokeres struggled to make an impact during his Arsenal debut at Old Trafford, failing to register a single shot before being substituted after 60 minutes. According to Metro, the striker managed just 21 touches and completed only four of nine passes during his time on the pitch.
The performance highlighted potential integration challenges for Arsenal's significant investment. The striker cost the Gunners around £63 million in transfer fees this summer.
Carragher's prediction carries weight given Arsenal's remarkable record against their Big Six rivals. The Gunners remain unbeaten in their last 22 matches against Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Tactical flexibility proposed
Neville suggested a potential solution that could satisfy both camps by deploying Gyokeres and Havertz together. The former Manchester United captain pointed to Gabriel Martinelli's recent struggles as an opportunity to experiment with different formations.
"Arsenal needed a centre forward and brought one in, I saw glimpses that made me think he'll be a handful," Neville explained. "[Gabriel] Martinelli looks like he's struggling, maybe getting Gyokeres and Havertz in together is something he has to try."
Arteta remained diplomatic about his striker's debut, praising several aspects of Gyokeres' performance while acknowledging areas for improvement. "Well, he did a lot of things very good," the Arsenal manager said.
"You can tell, especially in our high-pressing rhythm that we demand that, especially in the first hour. Again, he took too much time. It's something that we have to work on him, especially there."
The Arsenal boss continued his assessment of the debut performance. "And then, yeah, finalising situation, he didn't have that many chances to do that because, as I said, on the previous action, before we had to play that last ball that the line was standing still with 40 metres behind, we then managed to put the ball through to exploit his quality. But overall, I mean, coming away to Manchester United, winning your first game with Arsenal, it's a good start."
Sources used: "PA Media", "Metro", "Daily Mail", "Mirror" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
