Mikel Arteta challenges Alex Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe to make Arsenal forget Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.
Arsenal will be without Aubameyang for their next three games comprising of two Premier League fixtures and the FA Cup fourth round.
The Gabonese attacker has been the club’s top scorer this season netting 14 league goals already, however, Arteta believes his team can cope without the former Borussia Dortmund man and he has backed his other forwards to get them the goals.
He effectively threw down a challenge to Pepe and Lacazette to fill the void left by Aubameyang and help the fans to forget about Aubameyang’s absence.
Lacazette has struggled for goals this season, Gabriel Martinelli has even scored more goals for the club this season than he has, but he has been working hard under Arteta.
Pepe has also shown flashes of brilliance in his game but more is expected of him and Arteta expects both of them to do well in the games Aubameyang would be missing.
“They now have to make a step forward now he is not able to contribute to the team with goals,” the Spaniard said as quoted by the Daily Star.
“Someone else has to do it and I want to see that reaction too.
“Losing probably the most important player is never nice.
“We have other players that can play in that position. We will try to find a way and be as competitive as possible.”
Absolutely spot on from Arteta. It is time for the other attackers to ease the burden on Aubameyang. Top teams get goals from all sort of sources, not just one.