Aubameyang ‘only brings goals to the party’ claims ex Gunner
All has not gone in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s favour since he signed the multi-million contract extension at the Emirates Stadium in September.
And that has only added fuel to the fire of the critics of the Gabon international. Contributing to the team beside scoring has not been one of the strengths of the 31-year-old this season. By the way, it has never been.
It has just become a stick to beat him with. Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson was the latest person to do so.
The 52-year-old, who made 327 appearances for the Gunners, criticized the former Borussia Dortmund man saying he “only brings goals to the party.”
Merson said in his column for the Sky Sports: “It was another difficult night for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (speaking of the Liverpool game).
“I’ve always said, and I’ll stick by it, unless he scores a goal he’s not bringing much more to the party, and he never has.
“He’s an out and out goal scorer, who plays out wide, and when you play out wide as a footballer, you are working on scraps. You either get the ball so many times you get sick of it or you never see the ball at all, and he’s a goalscorer.
The former Arsenal man who scored 78 goals for the club continued, “He’s a bit like Mesut Ozil without the goals. He’s not going to run back and do a fifty-fifty tackle or chase the ball back and get it back for his side.
“Goals are what he brings to the party and at the end of the day, it is the hardest thing to do, but when you are the captain of Arsenal Football Club, which is a big thing, you need to have a bit more than what you are showing at the moment.
“His confidence is well and truly shot, but he’s a goal scorer and in a big football match against Slavia Prague he could end up on the far post and score. That’s what he can do.”
The Arsenal striker has indeed been short of ideas when playing on the wing this season. He has looked perplexed at times like the Arsenal faithful watching from their sofas.
Aubameyang will be 32 in the summer and certainly he will not be expected to sprint up and down the wing for the remainder of his career at Arsenal.
In the end, his superb athleticism tracking back full backs is not the reason why the North London side gave him a three-year contract extension.