Aubameyang’s season defended despite low return

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has come under increased scrutiny this season, with the Arsenal goalscorer struggling to hit his former heights.

The 32 year-old is yet to hit double figures(he has nine so far) in the Premier League this season after 25 appearances, in comparison to scoring 22 goals in 36 appearances in both the previous seasons.

Charles Watts disagrees that his season has been as bad as it looks on paper however, claiming that he simply wasn’t provided with enough chances in the earlier half of the campaign, which then affected his confidence, but his return has increased since the creativity has returned.

His performance against Liverpool has again seen him come under scrutiny, although I can’t recall him being provided with much to work with.

One opinion that Watts is also not buying into is that the player’s new contract has played a part in his struggles this term.

Watts told his YouTube followers (via Thisisfutbol): “I hate the link between the new contract and Aubameyang’s loss of form. I just don’t believe that at all. I just think he’s having a difficult season when Arsenal weren’t creating chances, he wasn’t scoring goals – it’s as simple as that.

“Since Arsenal improved since Christmas and started creating chances, he’s scoring goals. Yes, he may not be scoring quite at the rate he was. But as I said, nine goals in 14 games, a lot of strikers would kill for a strike-rate like that, it’s not bad at all.

“And that’s because he’s getting more chances and he was also missing chances. Although it’s frustrating, at least he’s missing them. In that first half of the season when a lot of people were having a go at him, he wasn’t even missing chances because he just wasn’t getting them at all.”

Do we really believe that Auba’s form has been affected by his new contract in any way?

Patrick

Tags Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

21 Comments

  1. He’s certainly starting to emulate Gervinho – both in hairstyle and barn door misses. Just hope he reverses it soon

    1. Did you have to remind me about Gervinho. Just finished therapy about how rubbish he, Sanogoals and Chamakh were

  2. He hasn’t been great this season, but again he was played out of position again. At times, he was deeper than Tierney, which is ridiculous! Could you imagine Messi or Ronaldo, deeper than their respective full-backs? Poor decision from Arteta.

  3. The problem with auba is that his all round game(passing, ball control, dribbling etc) has never been great, so when chances are not created for him and he doesn’t score he looks average plus he is inconsistent with his work rate.

    1. “The problem with auba is that his all round game(passing, ball control, dribbling etc) has never been great,”

      This pretty much sums it up..Have never seen the hype..

      1. Well he used to have so much more pace and agility when he was at Dortmund, never really a dribbler to my knowledge but he could be played in behind and run through on goal, and no one could catch him. The version we got at arsenal is a bit slower due to his age, but he did really well to adapt and last season or two showed himself to be a great finisher and poacher. Just hasn’t happened this season and he doesn’t look right mentally.

  4. What has become patently clear, is the fact that he is a limited footballer who is ineffective in matching the roles played by Mane and Salah who are paid a good deal less.To accommodate Auba he needs to be relieved of his defensive duties but that is unlikely to happen with a Manager who has been schooled under Pep Guardiola.At Man City and Liverpool no exceptions are made in their work ethic, and that is why they have been successful.Lacazette may well be moved on at the end of the season, but in the case of Auba, I cannot imagine any Club being prepared to match his current wages even if he was available at a nominal fee.In other words we are likely to be stuck with him until his contract expires..Let’s hope he regains his confidence and starts banging in the goals again particularly in the Europa Cup .

  5. Why is anybody surprised? He is now 32 and his main attribute, pace, is on the wane. Unlike Kane, he has never been a clinical finisher but his raw pace got him into numerous scoring positions. He used to terrify defenders when he joined us and when he was at Dortmund, where I first noticed him, but these days he struggles on the wing and rarely goes past defenders. Maybe he’ll be more effective as a No. 9? Either way we’ve got him till 2023 because on current form I just can’t see any big club signing him let alone paying his sky high wages. He has been our most prolific striker since Henry but I believe he is now past his best.

    1. I do think his finishing and movement was superb in his previous seasons at arsenal and that has probably covered for a few of the deeper problems with the squad.
      Completely agree that he’s a different animal to the Auba that played for Dortmund – age catches everyone but particularly forwards who rely heavily on pace

  6. With your comment regarding his defensive duties Grandad, wasn’t that also used against our other top earner Ozil?
    If Arteta knew this, why did he offer him the new and obscene contract, if he didn’t fit in with his plans?!?!
    Surely he knew what the player was capable of doing, after all he also made him captain?

    1. I definitely agree that Arteta has been inconsistent with Auba, and frankly I believe this is because we have been so reliant on his goalscoring in previous seasons (not saying it’s right, this is something I hold against MA).

  7. Sorry Grandad should have read your post first, it would have avoided the repitition!!!

  8. No problem Andrew.With regard to your point Ken, I suppose Arteta did not visualise such a dramatic drop in his standards, but as you suggest, he can’t have it both ways.

  9. Auba is a goal machine, he has been all his life, the manager has lost the key to Auba and has failed to produce tactics or coaching to get the best out of him and the team come to that.

  10. Reggie are you suggesting that if a player fails to perform, it’s the Manager’s fault?As for After a failing to “coach” Auba, he is 32 years old for God’s sake.

      1. Yes i am Grandad and Ronaldo is 35, so what are you saying? Especially if he keeps playing him and not getting results.

        1. Reggie, I think Grandad’s point is that an experienced 32 year old international player shouldn’t need to be coached (if I’m wrong Grandad I apologise).

          I’m with you with regards to why MA continues to select him, but do you really think the likes of Ronaldo, Bergkamp, Messi or Henry needed/needs to be coached?
          As an afterthought, after watching Saturday’s game, are any of our players being “coached”?

          1. Ok ken grandad, lets say he doesn’t need coaching, i will go with that for the sake of debate but the rest of the team do to take advantage of his strengths. Lobbing balls up to him and balls in the air in the box are not his strengths, so play to what is. That is what Arteta has failed to do, get the best out of Auba and keep playing him, even though he or the team were not clicking from very early on.

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