Arsenal wasted the exact opportunity Viktor Gyokeres desperately needed

If ever there was a time to use Viktor Gyokeres and play to his strengths, it was against Brighton. Arsenal didn't do that, with Gyokeres only coming off the bench and not having enough time to make any impact.

The blow from the weekend still leaves many Arsenal fans on the floor. It wasn't just a loss; it was an old-fashioned hammering, and one that fans haven't seen for a good few years now.

Arsenal are usually a well-oiled machine, but against Brighton at the weekend, they malfunctioned. The feeling is perhaps exacerbated by the fact that we now have an elongated international break to contend with, but that's not Arsenal's fault.

Their usage of Gyokeres at the weekend, though, was their fault.

Arsenal failed Viktor Gyokeres when they finally needed him most

Brighton pressed Arsenal high, and they left a lot of space to exploit in defence when they did it. Arsenal pulled off more counterattacks than they're used to, but they lacked the end product. Another route would have gotten the best out of Viktor Gyokeres.

Arsenal should have swallowed their pride and played long balls over the top whenever Brighton left space in behind. Call it archaic, call it old-fashioned; it would have meant that Arsenal scored at least.

Gyokeres is handy when he pulls away from his marker and exploits the space behind. It is the one thing he has over Kai Havertz, and it could very easily have been put to use against Brighton.

But it wasn't, and that suggests that Arsenal don't trust Gyokeres as much as Gyokeres probably trusts Arsenal. Perhaps it wasn't Gyokeres' fault all along, then.

Gyokeres has been in disastrous form this season, and it's really taking him a long time to get into first gear. He's been heavily criticised by the Arsenal fanbase, but he can't help not performing if he's not given the trust.

Mikel Arteta would have done things differently if he had a time capsule to approach the game again. Knowing what he knows now, he probably has a list of a million pages of the changes he'd make, but it's easy to imagine Gyokeres would have been central to his plans.

Arsenal have not been stubborn this season. Arteta has been much better at rotating his squad, but the weekend suggests he's not quite there with playing into players' strengths.

Fans have very strong opinions about Gyokeres, but it could have been so, so different at the weekend. Those negative opinions would have been forgotten about had he started against Brighton, but, unfortunately, he wasn't even given the license to try.

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