Graham Potter sends strong message about Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal

Sweden national team boss Graham Potter said that some of the criticism that Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres has received has actually worked in the player's favor.

Gyokeres has not had the best start to his debut season at one of the best clubs in the world. He is finding his feet and he is gradually improving, but he would have definitely hoped for a much better start at Arsenal in a season where they want to compete for every single trophy possible.

Obviously, they are still in the competitions they started in, and they can still win all the trophies that they want to win. But Gyokeres has not been that convincing in many of the games that he has played. He has had really good performances, like the one against Tottenham over the weekend and the one against Bayern Munich in 2025.

There has been some inconsistency in his performances, and that will go away with time. Fans have seen some of it go away already because he has been a bit more consistent in the last few weeks, touching the ball more, scoring a bit more, and being involved in the press more than he was before.

Potter, who manages Gyokeres in the Swedish national team, has flipped the negatives into a big positive. He claims that the player has taken some of the criticism in his stride and improved his performances.

Graham Potter sends strong message about Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal

He said: “The criticism was very good for him. I think it highlights his character and personality. From my perspective, there is no doubt about Viktor. He is a top player, a top person.

"I think he has contributed to where Arsenal are as a team in all four competitions. Every player sometimes goes through a period where they get a bit of criticism. That’s part of the job.”

It is really nice to see Potter talking about Gyokeres in such a positive light. It is clear that he thinks he is a good player and that he can reach a very high level at Arsenal.

What he has said is actually true because taking criticism on the chin and improving gives you a much better feeling than hiding away from it and not doing impactful things with it. It highlights his personality and his character. It shows just how hardworking the player is and how much he wants to prove his haters wrong.

Eberechi Eze has also been training with Gyokeres for the last few months and saw that firsthand. He spoke about it in a recent interview, saying that Gyokeres is really hardworking, and that is always a positive.

Those traits come into light when you receive criticism because you want to work hard to make sure those things are not repeated again. That is essentially what Gyokeres has been trying to do.

There is a long way to go before fans see the Gyokeres of his Sporting days, but he is definitely improving game by game, and there will be a time where he is the consistent and reliable goalscorer that everyone fell in love with in Portugal.

It might take time because it is a new league and a new system, and everyone has to go through a phase like this to get to the top, but Potter thinks it is certain that that will happen, and the fans seem to agree with him as well.