Viktor Gyokeres reveals what Arsenal players said in crisis talks before north London derby
Viktor Gyokeres has revealed Arsenal players spoke candidly and delivered several home truths in the crisis talks that took place prior to Sunday’s north London derby victory.
Following the the concession of a two-goal lead at Wolves last week, a crisis meeting was held in an attempt to help get a faltering title bid back on track.
A run of two wins from seven matches had allowed Manchester City to close the gap at the top to just two points following their win over Newcastle on Saturday night.
The mentality of a squad which has finished as runners-up in each of the last three questions was again firmly under the microscope heading into Sunday’s showdown with their bitter rivals.
Arsenal responded emphatically and produced their most convincing performance since the turn of the year and recorded a morale-boosting 4-1 win.
Gyokeres responded to his own army of critics with a superbly taken brace and he confirmed the candid nature of the showdown talks that followed the Molineux debacle could prove pivotal come the end of the season.
He said: ‘It think most of us spoke. It’s important sometimes just to say what you feel and let it out.
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‘You know in the gruop and everyone can recognise how a different person feel in the moment and you get a better understanding of the feel.
‘I think when you speak openly together in the group you come closer together and I think it’s very important to do that.’
A delicious bonus to a much-needed win saw Arsenal pile the pressure on Spurs who are now deep in the midst of a relegation battle.
Interim boss Igor Tudor, however, believes there is enough time to steer Tottenham away from from the drop zone and backed his under-performing team to improve with more work on the training pitch.
Spurs suffered a painful 4-1 loss to rivals Arsenal on Sunday to remain 16th, and the gap to the bottom three is only four points with 11 games to play.
Tottenham have plummeted down the table during a run of two league wins in four months, which is why Tudor was parachuted in for the dismissed Thomas Frank with the aim of producing a mid-season turnaround like he managed at Juventus and Lazio.
‘Of course there is enough time,’ Tudor insisted. ‘I saw the passion, I saw the will, so I was not angry because they wanted to do (it), but then they were not able to do in this moment the things.
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‘They wanted to do all what we prepared so I said ‘that is good’ but we need to understand which moment we are in now because we are not able to do it.’
‘Why we are not able to do is the question we resolve and I speak from day one at the club, I come here to resolve the problems.
‘You believe that in three or four trainings you will do your best but when the game starts you don’t know what will happen because it is like this – but as I said before, Tuesday, I come in, everyone there and stay humble. That is the key.
‘Stay humble, that is the key for each of us and try to become what I said before – a team, a squad, a hard-working team. That is the only goal we have now in this moment.’
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Article source: https://metro.co.uk/2026/02/23/viktor-gyokeres-reveals-arsenal-players-said-crisis-talks-north-london-derby-27064477/