Lineker: Gyökeres Needs to Score Against Strong Teams to Avoid Being Seen as a Flat-Track Bully

Gary Lineker and Rio Ferdinand discussed their views on Arsenal player Viktor Gyökeres in an interview with Camel Live.

Lineker said: “I don’t want to call Gyökeres a flat-track bully—it’s a bit unfair. The criticism people might raise is that when he played in Portugal, he didn’t score much against top teams. And so far, all of Gyökeres’ goals have come against the likes of Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.”

“Gyökeres needs to prove himself in some important games, but I think he’s had a decent start.”

In addition, Ferdinand also shared his thoughts on Gyökeres. He said: “I disagree with these claims, like ‘Gyökeres is a flat-track bully’—this is probably exactly what Arsenal needs. Among all the top strikers who have played in the Premier League, none of them scored most of their goals against the strongest teams.”

“When you’re competing for the league title, the important games against title rivals usually take care of themselves. Most of the time, teams drop points because they fail to beat the teams they should have beaten. Where did Arsenal drop points towards the end of last season? It was against weaker teams. If Gyökeres is the kind of player who can ‘dominate’ these teams, then Arsenal should be able to win the league title—this is exactly the piece of the puzzle you’ve been looking for.”

“So who cares about these claims that ‘Gyökeres can’t do it against strong teams’? Someone will always find a way to solve it. Arsenal already has 11 different goalscorers in the Premier League—no other team has more than that.”

“This shows that the team’s goals are evenly distributed enough. If Gyökeres can dominate weaker teams and mid-table sides, I think Arsenal can win the league title.”