Arsenal striker Victor Gokeres scored twice to sink Tottenham on Sunday, a performance that earned him praise from Jamie Carragher, who wasn’t necessarily the Swede’s biggest fan.
Jamie Carragher praised Victor Goqueres for scoring twice in the win over Tottenham (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher has praised Victor Goqueres for his performance in the North London derby, despite previously urging Mikel Arteta to sack the Arsenal striker from his squad.
Gökeres, 27, endured a difficult start to his first Premier League campaign, scoring just five goals in the league. This has led some to wonder whether Arsenal made a mistake in the summer when they decided to sign the Sporting Lisbon star in search of a new number nine.
However, the Gunners frontman has been on a roll since the start of the year, with Gokeres scoring twice in the 4-1 win over Tottenham, his best performance yet in an Arsenal shirt.
And Carragher, who had said Gokeres “shouldn’t start” the game ahead of Gabriel Jesus’ return to form in December, showered the striker with flowers in the aftermath of Sunday’s big win.
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“What I like about Victor Gokeres is his mentality,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“I don’t think he’s going to be a world-class striker, I don’t think he’s going to be a great striker for the next five years or at Arsenal. But I love his mentality. It’s not that he doesn’t have confidence. He just gets the ball and hits it. It’s that kind of Alan Shearer mentality.”
“As Gary Neville said in his commentary, I think this is the best we’ve seen Jokeles play in an Arsenal shirt. It was a really great finish.
“He could be (important) and what I want to say here is credit to the manager. They felt they had to move away from Gokeres and at some stage I thought it might cost them.”
Joe Keles gives his best performance in an Arsenal shirt in the North London derby
“But the manager was there for him every week and the strength he showed in this game was very Alan Shearer.
“We were looking at the Arsenal strikers and we felt he was quite far down the pecking order and I was surprised several times that Gokeres was still in the team.
“But fair play to the manager because he kept him and he returned the favor in one of the biggest games of the season for Arsenal.”
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