Limpar urges Arteta to abandon lone-striker system to unlock Gyokeres at Arsenal

Former Arsenal midfielder Anders Limpar has urged Mikel Arteta to abandon his preferred single-striker setup and field two forwards, insisting that Viktor Gyokeres cannot produce his best football in isolation at the top of the pitch.

The call comes as Arsenal prepare to host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, looking to close the gap on league leaders Manchester City. Arteta’s side arrive on the back of a hard-fought 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest and a 1-1 draw away at Bayern Munich in the Champions League, where Gyokeres came off the bench to set up Declan Rice’s late equaliser.

Limpar, who mentored Gyokeres during his early development at Brommapojkarna in Sweden, believes the system is holding the striker back. Arteta typically operates with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 shape in possession, and Gyokeres — who joined in the summer of 2025 and scored 21 goals last season — has slipped behind Kai Havertz in the pecking order this term after struggling to impose himself as a lone centre-forward.

“When I see Viktor playing for Sweden, he is much better because he’s playing with two up front, and he was brought up in the Swedish system, playing with two forwards,” Limpar told Betarades. “Playing up front on his own is hard for him because it’s not his game to be a target player.”

Limpar pointed to Gyokeres’ international form as evidence of what a different structure could unlock. The striker has scored 10 goals in 11 games for Sweden this year, regularly lining up alongside Liverpool’s Alexander Isak in a two-man attack.

“He is good going forward, chasing the ball, and he’s a threat on counterattacks, so he needs a player who is a really good target so he can play off them,” Limpar added. “At the moment, you can see that he’s struggling a little bit when it comes to receiving the ball, to pass the ball around.”

Limpar also issued a pointed warning to Gyokeres about his public comments, suggesting the striker has been unwise to signal his frustration openly. “You should never ever go out in the press saying that you want to leave or that you want to play every game. That’s not good for Arteta, that’s not good for him, and that’s not good for the club.”

Arteta, meanwhile, is also managing a fresh injury concern ahead of the Everton fixture, with an update on Bukayo Saka’s fitness expected to shape his selection options for the weekend.