Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is suffering his worst goal drought since he joined Arsenal in January of 2018.
The Gabonese attacker is one of the most lethal strikers in the world and he has proven that for years.
However, this season has been different as he continues to struggle for goals.
He was handed a new deal at the start of the campaign because of his fine form in the last two seasons.
However, the new contract has looked undeserved due to his current poor run of form.
The 31-year-old fired blanks again as Arsenal were beaten 2-0 by Tottenham on Sunday and it seems that he isn’t exactly the problem, at least that is what his agent, Kwaku Mensah, thinks.
The Gunners game against Spurs was yet another match that they failed to cause any serious problems for their opponents despite the majority of the possession.
Mensah must have expected them to score, but as they didn’t he took to his Instagram page to blame Arsenal’s tactics for his client’s goal drought.
He posted a screenshot of some statistics on Instagram which showed that Arsenal was 17th in the Premier League ranking for goals scored, 18th for shots on target, and 20th for chances created.
He then captioned the post: “If you create chances…”
Please note the difference in the spelling of chances and crosses. A bird flying over your head is not a bird in the pot.
Still waiting for MA to do something other than fix the defense so we do not get beaten badly.
Patience – Oh Boy – I am waiting with Bamma.
And Brighton are winning
Were winning it’s now 1-1.
Auba has a style and Auba has a position that he plays best from. He doesn’t like balls flung into the box and he isnt a number 9. He is a counter attack footballer who plays best when he can run at goal. He isn’t a box player so why are we trying to play him like it. He plays best when he is breaking from the left running at players that are stretched. So we play slow methodical (not very methodically) build up and none of our players suit that possession, sideways build up.
Mensa the coming together of equals .But not all 350k p/w strikers are performing equally. If the circumference of a circle is pi r squared why does Arsenal have 190 mill worth of strikers misfiring?
As for Herb of the earth “A bird flying over your head may be a bird on pot”
That was brilliant, or of course, just pie in the sky
This is turning into Ozil part two, if one goes along with what the “realists” want us to believe:
Undeserved and grotesque salary – not defending – making political statements – unable to do what he is paid to do – using his agent to moan about what’s happening – disinterested – bleeding the club dry – not giving 100% – lack of leadership – unfit to wear the captains armband – after match ratings of 3 or 4 – just signed a three year contract and can’t be bothered :
How long before HE is called “filth – a thief – mentally frail – lazy – weak – parasite – bleeding the club dry – dross” etc etc?
Could he be one of the three who refused a pay cut and will we see personal details of his contract” leaked ” to the public by those upstairs who might have made another mega contract mistake and want to shift the blame elsewhere?
Well, until the club find a creative player who can assist him, all the above will probably happen… as a realist I know this, but will deny it, because I, along with the “vast majority” wanted him to sign dat thing regardless!!!
Ken,
Your frequent snipes at JF at the expense of giving me and many others who are interested in the excellent insight that you so invariably have on so many Arsenal matters is a real shame.
You mention the scapegoat issue, but it was Leno on Saturday and Bellerin on JA today, so it goes around on a regular basis.
The pay-cut issue according to some includes at least four of five now and for any number of reasons.
As for Auba extending his stay, I was against a pay rise, or a longer than necessary contract – very much in line with AW and his treatment (I am reliably informed) of Dennis Bergkamp The same would have applied to Willian who Chelsea sensibly agreed that 3 years was too long.
If Auba’s agent is making noises then as far as I am concerned if Auba wants to go then so be it. Sulking and being club captain don’t go together
SueP, I can assure you that JF did not say/call /imply all of the issues I raised above – why on earth would you think that?
All I am trying to show, is how ridiculous name calling, ridiculing and labelling someone is wrong and will inevitably come back with a vengeance and show the idiocy of such juvenile behaviour… of which I quite happily indulged in myself above.
I’m hoping that those who do this on a regular basis, will see how infuriating it can be.
Good for you, Ken 👍
I agree Ken.
I think in all the years MA played the game he didn’t realize a few things and that is transferring to his management.
Some players need to play with freedom to express their talent, having all 10 outfield players playing rigid football doesn’t always work, it becomes predictable and is then easily countered.
Some players need a certain type of player around them to excel, to see things in a different way, we don’t have that right now, not even from the bench.
If we look at our recent history, over the past 4-5 years, Sanchez – Ozil – Giroud, they all complimented each other, it was just a shame we didnt have a good defence or that rock in midfield to compliment it further.
If we go back more, we had TH14 – DB – Pires, again they complimented each other but we had a solid defence and 2 rocks behind to allow the creative freedom for these players to excel.
People say the traditional no10 is dead, I disagree with that statement to an extent, I agree that its evolving but its not dead, not yet.
Havertz, De bruyne, Fernandez are all that type of player but not, more like a half 10 if you get what i mean.
I think its a coincidence that Auba’s drop in form happened after his contract signing as I do think it is more down to the fact he has lost belief in his team mates getting him the ball.
He has proven over the coarse of his career that if you get him the ball he will score goals, its how you give him the ball, you cant swing balls into him like we have been, the same goes for Lacazette, their just not that type of player.
Imo something needs to give one way or another to add some guile into this team
Val, I think the master of this, especially in his first ten to twelve years, was AW.
By all accounts, he just told the players to go out and express themselves and play the beautiful game.
Of course, with the players you mention, that was a lot easier than what MA has to work with today, but it seems to me anyway, that he is strangling any kind of creativity and natural footballing skills they have.
Of course I don’t believe Auba will never score again, but one can see he is not enjoying his game at the moment – where has that wonderful, infectious smile gone?
I felt that Sundays game was a perfect example of what I am saying… I can’t name one single player who seemed to want the ball, or was encouraging his team mates.
It was a robotic performance albeit an improvement, in my opinion, on previous games.
I have suggested that every manager will select those players who he has brought in to the club, simply because he thought they were an improvement – for me, a top manager will see when he has made a mistake and bring in players with form to back their selection up.
Elneny, AMN, Martinelli have all been sidelined at one stage or another and until MA rectifies this “favourite players” blindspot, we will continue to struggle… in my opinion.
By the way, agreed whole heartedly with your post and how anyone can blame Leno for either of those superb team goals on Sunday is beyond me… take care.
We need to change of the club from Arsenal to the robots.
For the record I was complaining about this style of play even when we won the cup. It does not take a genius to know that other coaches will solve the puzzle. When Auba played on the wing, the right back and center back both shifted to his side and neutralized him. When he move to the middle there was no need to game plan for him because he can’t create his own chances. Besides, he was at the mercy of the CM and the CB.
I will never call for Arteta to be sacked even though I think he doesn’t have answers to the problem he has created. Him saying he needs six players to execute is plan is a testament to my thought. He doesn’t have to the way he wants to play/his plan until he gets those six players, it has to be how the players at his disposal can play. We conceded the same kind of goals from Leicester defeat to Spurs defeat. coached/Instructed the cbs to play high up in the midfield, making Snail-paced Xhaka to play LFB and instructors your fullbacks to play in opponent half is a recipe for disaster. It is a comedy to see Bellerin running into space instead of running towards the player with ball at his feet in many of the goals we conceded not to mention is constant foul throwing.