Drifting out to the right wing, he took four touches as he considered his options.
asserted
he → drift → options
Three Arsenal players were free and waiting for a pass inside.
asserted
players → wait → pass
A fourth, Noni Madueke, made a move to open up some space.
asserted
fourth → make → space
Misreading that run, Gyokeres scooped a pass in behind the Ipswich defence, away from any red shirts, and straight out of play.
asserted
Gyokeres → misread → play
Madueke put his face in his hands.
asserted
Madueke → put → hands
Martin Zubimendi and Myles Lewis-Skelly threw up their arms in frustration.
asserted
Zubimendi → throw → frustration
Max Dowman slumped his shoulders and looked up to the sky.
asserted
Dowman → slump → sky
It was a small moment, the kind of poor decision that any player can make and be forgiven for.
asserted
player → make → that
In Gyokeres' case, though, it felt symptomatic of a player not functioning at the same level as those around him.
asserted
it → feel → him
The most concerning aspect of Gyokeres' performance against Ipswich was not that misplaced pass.
asserted
aspect → misplace → Ipswich
Nor was it that he managed just one shot, or lost three of his four duels.
asserted
he → manage → duels
It was that the intent to make an impact on the game, regardless of whether that came off, was glaringly absent.
asserted
that → make → game
When Madueke was beating his man and putting in crosses, Gyokeres was not making runs to get into his space.
asserted
Gyokeres → beat → space
For a striker with his goal record, he is remarkably static in the box, too often content to wrestle with a defender and hope the ball comes to him.
asserted
ball → wrestle → him
Gyokeres scored 14 league goals last season and 11 of those came against sides in the bottom half.
asserted
11 → score → half
Instead, the matches in which you would trust Gyokeres to make an impact now feel vanishingly thin.
asserted
you → trust → impact
In Naples last week, he had three touches inside the opposition box.
asserted
he → have → box
Gyokeres managed only two against Ipswich.
asserted
Gyokeres → manage → Ipswich
Madueke had nine, Merino five.
asserted
Merino → have → nine
Christos Tzolis, who came on in the 76th minute, registered two.
asserted
who → come → two
On the occasions that Arsenal did look for Gyokeres to hold the ball up, he fell to the ground under the slightest bit of pressure.
asserted
he → look → pressure
There is a flatness to his game that was not there last season, even when he was struggling to get goals.
asserted
he → be → goals
That desperate edge, working to try and get back into form, has gone.
asserted
edge → work → form
Gyokeres started against both Napoli and Ipswich, games in which Arsenal had a combined 37 shots.
asserted
Arsenal → start → shots
He was responsible for one of those - a tame effort dribbled at the goalkeeper.
asserted
He → dribble → goalkeeper
Kai Havertz has found plenty of opportunities when leading Arsenal's attack.
asserted
Havertz → find → attack
Merino had no issue delivering goals in his spell up front last season.
asserted
Merino → have → front
It is not unreasonable to expect a striker at this level to fashion chances for himself, or to more consistently get into the right positions in the box for the ball to drop to him.
asserted
ball → expect → him
Gyokeres looks like a player who badly needs the international break to spark him into life.
asserted
who → look → life
Whether it is an issue of confidence, disappointment at falling behind Havertz in the pecking order, frustration over the transfer speculation in the summer, or a combination of all three, something must change.
asserted
something → fall → three
Gyokeres looks like a player who badly needs the international break to spark him into life.
asserted
who → look → life
Time away with Sweden could be exactly what he needs.
uncertain
he → need → what
Over the extended three-week international break, Graham Potter's side face Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Romania twice in the Nations League.
asserted
side → face → League
In March, Gyokeres scored four goals in two matches for Sweden to fire them to the World Cup.
asserted
Gyokeres → score → Cup
That was form, and almost more importantly a feeling, that he carried back to Arsenal.
asserted
he → carry → Arsenal
"He was buzzing," Arteta said on his return.
asserted
Arteta → buzz → return
Gyokeres' best performances for Arsenal came in the period after that.
asserted
performances → come → that
He scored twice against Fulham and then produced a superb all-round display in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, holding up the ball and linking play as well as he has done in an Arsenal shirt.
asserted
he → score → shirt
Arsenal, and Gyokeres, desperately need a repeat of that.
asserted
Arsenal → need → that
A three-week spell of being the main man for his country has come at the perfect time.
asserted
spell → come → time
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
