Mikel Arteta's problem with Viktor Gyokeres' Arsenal debut - 'We need to work with him'

Mike Arteta admitted that Arsenal will need to work with Viktor Gyokeres to improve his role in their pressing system as he marked that Manchester United had "a bit too much time" at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The Swede made his debut for the Gunners, helping them claim victory at Old Trafford in their Premier League opener. Gyokeres was Arsenal's marquee summer signing, joining from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth more than £60million.

He now needs to embed himself in Arsenal's system and Arteta confessed that his work off the ball is something they need to focus on after seeing United dominate large periods on Sunday. Gyokeres failed to find the net, but found that chances were at a premium.

Arsenal have played without a recognised striker for long periods over the past 18 months, often using someone as a false nine, but they now have someone to lead their line in a conventional manner, albeit the 27-year-old still needs some fine tuning to suit the team's style.

Arteta said on his debut: “Well he did a lot of things very good. You can tell especially in our high press and rhythm that we demand, that especially in the first half we were giving a bit too much time. It is something that we have to work on him, especially there.

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“Then in the final action situation, he did not have that many chances to do that, because in the previous action, we had to play that last ball and the line was standing still with 40 metres to play. We did not manage to put the ball through to exploit his quality. But overall, coming away to Man United, winning your first game with Arsenal, is a good start.”

Gyokeres has been among Europe's most prolific strikers over the past two years, scoring nearly 100 times for Sporting over the past two years. However his stats in Manchester didn't make for great reading before his afternoon was ended prematurely.

The new signing had 21 touches, completed just four of nine passes and failed to register a single shot on target. Only three of his touches came in the opposition’s penalty area before his debut came to an end on the hour mark with Kai Havertz brought onto replace him.

Arsenal ultimately decided to pursue a move for Gyokeres ahead of Benjamin Sesko, who now finds himself in Manchester after his summer move. The Slovenian came off the bench but couldn't find the equaliser his new team were looking for.

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