‘Magical’ Arsenal star can make Gyokeres the new Henry

Can Viktor Gyökeres now revive his career at Arsenal?

Tuesday evening, after nine matches without a goal for club and country, the Swedish striker scored twice in two minutes to allow the Gunners to demolish Atlético Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League, named man of the match.

That takes Gyökeres’ tally to five goals for the club, all in home wins, now hoping this will be the start of a run of goals, given their next opponents are Crystal Palace, Brighton, Burnley, Slavia Prague and Sunderland, before the small matter of a north London derby.

So which teammate could really get the most out of the man who proudly wears the number 14 on his back, recreating perhaps Arsenal’s best attacking partnership?

The Arsenal legacy of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry

Gooners of a certain vintage might well argue that they had the pleasure of watching the club’s two best strikers of all time play together, one of the main reasons why Arsène Wenger’s side won the double in 2002 and became invincible two seasons later.

Dennis Bergkamp spent over a decade in north London after arriving from Internazionale in 1995, scoring 120 goals and registering 116 assists for the club.

The Non-Flying Dutchman, a nickname given because of his aviophobia, was the archetypal number ten of a period when second strikers were all the rage in English football, with Eric Cantona at Manchester United and Gianfranco Zola at Chelsea.

Bergkamp was renowned for his impeccable first touch and stunning technical quality, with Wenger praising his “exceptional brain” while Ian Wright believes that “Dennis changed the DNA” of the entire club, going from a long-ball defensive team known as “boring, boring Arsenal” to the free-flowing team they would become, because Bergkamp was so good “you don’t couldn’t get around it.”

He would of course form a formidable partnership with Thierry Henry, who remains the Gunners’ all-time top scorer with 228, with the two men totaling 18 Premier League goals in the 2003/04 season alone.

Unlike Arsenal’s current number 14, Henry was capable of producing magical moments on his own, although it didn’t help to have Bergkamp, ​​Robert Pirès, Freddie Ljungberg and others to replace him.

So, as Gyökeres looks to emulate Henry, now just 223 goals short of his all-time record, which may prove simply out of reach, who could be his Bergkamp, ​​thereby bringing the best out of the Swede?

Arsenal’s new Dennis Bergkamp

As we’ve already discussed, Dennis Bergkamp’s arrival thirty years ago was seen as transformational, the only good thing Bruce Rioch had done as manager, and the Gunners are now hoping Eberechi Eze’s departure from Crystal Palace could have a similar effect.

Well, the aforementioned Ian Wright certainly thinks that could be the case, saying the move was “like when Bergkamp came in”, adding “we need a player who’s a bit more maverick… he’s a game changer”.

Apparently set to move on to fierce rivals Tottenham, the last-minute U-turn that saw the boyhood Arsenal fan return home in August will forever remain a highlight of this season for supporters regardless of what football offers, underlined by the reception it received when it was unveiled before the 5-0 demolition of Leeds.

The England international has opened his account for Arsenal against Port Vale in the EFL Cup so far, while bagging his third assist for the club in midweek, allowing Gyökeres to score the third as they demolished Atlético Madrid.

The table below documents Eze’s influence on his new team.

As the table shows, despite generally limited minutes, Eze’s creative influence has been demonstrated so far, bagging three assists, the most of any Arsenal player, while also ranking second for big chances created and goal-creating actions.

Last season at Crystal Palace he recorded eight assists and created 11 big chances defined by Opta in the Premier League, which is why Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta pushed the boat out to sign him,

So, have there been any signs that Eze and Gyökeres might work in tandem?

Well, Exhibit A in that regard would be the second goal in September’s 3-0 win over Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest, with Eze putting the ball on a plate for Gyökeres to fire home from a few picometers away.

As has been well documented, unlike Henry, Gyökeres is a striker very dependent on others for his service, touching the ball only 26 times on Tuesday, but scoring two goals, which is what he is in the team for; to paraphrase Roy Keane, it’s his job!

With Ødegaard out for a few more weeks at least, much of the creative burden will fall on Eze, but he is more than capable of shouldering that responsibility.

Although both men still have a long way to go to be as good as Bergkamp and Henry, they may well be able to propel the Gunners to a first Premier League triumph since those glory years.