Arsenal’s “one-dimensional” star shouldn’t be starting

Declan Rice did not play like a midfielder who had sat out Arsenal’s recent win over Aston Villa, but then Rice is no ordinary midfielder, and he produced a masterclass to steer his side over the line with a 3-2 win against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League and five points clear of second-place Aston Villa, though Manchester City can reduce their deficit to three by winning against managerless Chelsea on Sunday evening.

Everything is going right for the Gunners, who are so strong in every department. However, sweeping summer changes haven’t all worked out thus far, with Viktor Gyokeres continuing to struggle at number nine.

Viktor Gyokeres struggles to impress (again)

This summer, Gyokeres joined Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth around £64m. That a lengthy and arduous search for a new number nine, but the Sweden international has struggled to keep within the flow of Mikel Arteta’s system so far.

This was clear once again at Bournemouth.

Gyokeres huffed and puffed but struggled to produce anything of note in the final third, only completing five passes and unleashing just one blocked shot. That said, he tussled and worked hard in the build-up to Rice’s first goal.

But with Mikel Merino providing a clinical outlet up top when called upon and Gabriel Jesus now fit once again, it’s clear that the 27-year-old needs a sharp uptick in form if he wishes to keep his place in the starting line-up.

He’s industrious and a nuisance for defenders in the final third, but Gyokeres should be providing Arteta with more in the box. Now that Jesus is fit and firing, he may find starting berths hard to come by.

And he’s not the only one, with another leaving something to be desired at the other end of the field.

Arteta must drop “one-dimensional” star

Arsenal are the most complete in the country. After finishing second in each of the past three Premier League campaigns, this is surely Arteta’s year, especially given the commanding position the Gunners find themselves in.

It’s with the understanding that everything is on the line that Arsenal may want to drop Piero Hincapie, who has settled into Arteta’s defensive structure but possibly isn’t offering enough going forward. Across his nine Premier League starts since joining from Bayer Leverkusen on loan, the 23-year-old has yet to create a big chance, averaging 0.1 dribbles per game, as per Sofascore.

Such deficits were on show against Andoni Iraola’s spirited side, and the London Evening Standard gave him a 5/10 match rating, criticising some ineffective and sloppy passing.

Is it a technical flaw or a coaching thing? Hincapie is a talented and dynamic defender, all strength and composure and style on the ball. But he’s no Riccardo Calafiori, and some supporters continue to pine for more minutes for Myles Lewis-Skelly, a powerhouse of a young player.

Indeed, Arsenal content creator James Clark even remarked that “Hincapie and Martinelli are both too one-dimensional”. He gets in good playmaking positions and defends well – Semenyo was kept relatively quiet throughout the fixture – but perhaps lacks the expansiveness when contributing toward the attack at this moment in time.

Hincapie is a talented player. Indeed, there’s little to suggest that he doesn’t have what it takes to become a solid Premier League defender.

But perhaps it’s a testament to Arteta’s Arsenal project that he’s emerged as something of a weak link. This team really is that good.