Viktor Gyökeres position and style of play

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Viktor Gyökeres’ debut season with Sporting Clube de Portugal was a resounding success, leading to reports of interest from Arsenal. Five Primeira Liga Player of the Month awards and a place in the 2023/24 Team of the Year were testament to his performance across a season when he also picked up a league title winner’s medal. His goalscoring aided Sporting’s success, as he scored 29 goals in 33 games to become Primeira Liga top scorer.

Born in Sweden in 1998, he joined Brighton in 2018, and went on to play for the Under-23s and make eight appearances in cup competitions for the first team. Loan spells at St Pauli and Swansea City followed, as well as a Sweden debut, before a loan move to Coventry City was made permanent in 2021.

Gyökeres played 97 games for the Sky Blues, scoring 40 goals (see the video above), as he established himself in senior football in the English Championship. His form caught the eye of Sporting, under the management of the highly rated Rúben Amorim, who paid a club record €20m for his signature in 2023.

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed Gyökeres’ style of play…

Technical and positional analysis

Gyökeres is a right-footed centre-forward who can finish with either foot, but scores mostly with his preferred right. He has the qualities of a complete centre-forward, with the acceleration to run in behind and stretch the opposition, and the physicality to operate as a target man. His standout strength, however, is his ball-striking (below) and ability to finish with quality from a variety of areas.

Speed

Gyökeres uses his pace and acceleration to exploit spaces outside the opposition’s central defenders. He makes curved runs from central positions into wider areas, seizing opportunities when the opposition’s defensive shape is disjointed – particularly when full-backs are out of position (below).

When receiving in advanced, wider areas, he looks to back central defenders into the penalty area and engage them in 1v1s. There, he will take smaller touches and use quick changes of direction to unbalance defenders, using this as a trigger to shift the ball and create a line of sight on goal to finish. During his time with a more conservative and transitional Coventry side, Gyökeres thrived on these opportunities to exploit space in transition, driving into counter-attacking situations.

Movement and box positioning

One of Gyökeres’ most valuable attributes is his intelligent box positioning and movement, which he uses to fashion excellent goalscoring opportunities. With crosses and passes into the box he positions centrally, close to goal, between and on the blind side of central defenders (below). If play into him is of sufficient quality, he then has a high chance of converting opportunities.

More importantly, his blind-side positioning allows him to time his final attacking movements. With defenders’ attentions fixed by the ball-player, he evades tracking through late movements and sharpness over short distances. In the box, he will also make small movements to deceive defenders. He tricks them into thinking they have him covered, before dropping into the pockets of space he has created, to then receive and finish.

Gyökeres’ positioning between and on the back shoulder of defenders allows him to anticipate play into the area, where he can make dangerous runs across opponents. If crosses are overhit, he can drop deeper and attack the ball towards the back post.

Judging the weight and detail on passes and crosses from a slightly deeper position, he makes it difficult for defenders to see both his movement and that of the ball-player. He will then make quick, dynamic runs across his marker to meet crosses ahead of defenders (below). In these situations, he is able to reposition and adjust his body to make good contact with the ball, giving him the best chance of converting.

Creative role

Gyökeres also creates chances, ranking 10th for assists (six) in the 2023/24 Primeira Liga. When positioned wide and unable to create for himself, he has shown the ability to scan and identify supporting teammates, squaring or cutting back for others (below). His final-pass detail is particularly good, with a weight that invites teammates to arrive with the ball ahead of them and finish off one touch.

At 6ft 2ins, Gyökeres is also able to use his physicality and stature to bring others into play. He is capable of receiving against pressure by backing into defenders and pinning them, while using his body to protect possession (below). Receiving against this pressure, he is able to use intricate and deft touches around the box, to set into teammates or play into space for runs in behind the opposition’s defensive line. The quality of these connections means Gyökeres has provided his teammates numerous goalscoring opportunities.

Out of possession

Without the ball, Gyökeres is energetic. He engages defenders with intensity and jumps to press goalkeepers when required. He curves his pressing runs to make play predictable, restricting players from receiving behind him by keeping them in his cover shadow.

On top of this, he looks to seize upon any lapses of judgement or poor passes, using his agility and acceleration to intercept or pinch possession in dangerous attacking areas. When an in-possession defender is under pressure, his awareness allows him to anticipate opportunities to intercept, such as on a poor pass back to the goalkeeper (below). There, he has used his sharpness to intercept, before rounding the goalkeeper and finishing.

His progress with Sporting has led to transfer links with leading Premier League clubs, including Arsenal and Liverpool. Any such move would not only potentially benefit whichever club signs him, but also Coventry, who would reportedly receive a share of any transfer fee.

To learn more about the technical and tactical aspects of football, and gain insights from coaches at the top of the game, visit CV Academy

Author: The Coaches' Voice