Opinion – Arsenal should turn to youth to replace Aubameyang’s goals

Arteta should consider trying these players in the attack against Sheffield by Lagos Gooner

Hello! Our top striker Aubameyang is serving a three match ban, due to the red card he was issued in the game against Crystal Palace. He will surely be missed but then, we have other players who can score goals! They just need to step up and make the very important impact, when called upon to play by Arteta.

According to the Metro, Arteta has implored his players to fill the gap now that Aubameyang has been suspended.

“They now have to make a step forward now he is not able to contribute to the team with goals,’ said Arteta when asked if other players needed to step up. ‘Someone else has to do it and I want to see that reaction too.”

It is a good thing that Arteta is asking his players not to make the team miss Aubameyang in our next three games; however the poser here is who will step up and grab the opportunity Auba’s suspension has created?

We have Lacazette, we have Martinelli, we have Nketiah, and we have Pepe. All these aforementioned players are capable of winning games for Arsenal on a good day. The problem however, is that they have not been contributing goals to aid the cause of Arsenal. With Aubameyang scoring 14 goals this season and Lacazette scoring 5 goals, you may be tempted to ask where our goals will come from. You won’t also be wrong to feel we may not score more than one goal in games that we should be scoring more.

Well, I am not Arteta and I won’t try to act as if I am a coach, but if I am asked to make a suggestion on how Arsenal can play and score goals without Auba, then these are the three players I suggest he should consider.

Gabriel Martinelli: The Brazilian wonder kid has been a revelation since he came to Arsenal and it won’t be out of place to hand a starting shirt to him in our next game. The good thing about him is that he can play in any position in the attack.

Eddie Nketiah: This young lad has enjoyed a steady growth, career wise, recently. He scores goals naturally. He made an impact in the youth set up and he surely has a future in the senior team if mentored and guided well. This may just be an opportunity for him to start making an impact in the team. It won’t be out of place to give him a chance to lay claim to a starting shirt.

Nicolas Pepe: Our record signing last summer is yet to hit full form. To be fair to him, he has shown glimpses of how deadly he can be as a player but he needs to start being consistent. Football is a game that has little or no patience with players. If he continues this on and off pattern of football, he may be frozen out of the team in no time. However, in the absence of Auba, Pepe should start all our games because of his pace, dribbling skills and powerful left leg.

These three players should be utilized in a three man attack in our next three games. What do we think?

We are Arsenal and we are proud.

Sylvester Kwentua

10 Comments

  1. Aubameyang has been banging goals from the wing, because he also did it at Dortmund before Lewandowski left

    Martinelli and Pepe have similar traits as well, so we can expect goals from them. Whereas Nketiah has to show his abilities as a substitute for Lacazette in the second half, if Arsenal don’t send him away

  2. Use a 4123 formation

    if we are to increase our goal scoring threat,we need someone to support ozil and the flanks,because i dont see our DMs doing that.That link up CM role should be played.Ceballos/guendouzi or willock can play that role but they should also be ready to play dirty.Sheffield united has a better organization than crystal place so MA will have to get his tactics spot on .Xhaka being a lone DM is a gamble but i would trust him with his recent performances.Ozil’s workrate off the ball has improved significantly and he may have to support the defence more if we are to use this formation.

    the only way we are going to score goals without auba is if we create more chances.Lacazette,pepe is not currently in form and martinelli is returning from injury so we have to create more chances.And i would also play saka as LW and martinelli as RW because they create chances. Pepe,nelson tries stuff and lose the ball,they are not trying to link up and saka and martinelli offers more defensive support

  3. We can pretend that auba won’t be missed, the truth is the only player who has shown he can be a reliable striker is auba, lacazett has never filled me with confidence when it comes to scoring, infact I have never rated any striker who can’t score 20+ goals in seasons of playing at a club. We all are hoping martineli step up a big time because it’s really a big boot to fill, and what happened to our midfield when did midfielders stop scoring goals, our defense has been scoring more than the midfield time to give cebellos a chance he can be a goal treat from midfield

  4. The biggest mistake was to play Auba as a winger. Wingers need to defend in modern football and as hard as he did try, Auba is not a natural defender and that’s how he made a fowl he did not even intend to. All that so Lacazette can play as 9, and what did Lacazette do in recent matchs?

    1. Come on man, can’t blame Lacazette for Aubameyang’s stupidity. There is just no way of knowing Aubameyang wouldn’t have hacked down Meyer or somebody else in the middle of the pitch or elsewhere. I just hope Aubameyang is grateful he did not break that poor chap’s ankle. Open boot, flying in, that tackle was as reckless as it gets.

      1. Auba didn’t even try to pull out of it, he knew it was late but he didn’t put a bend on his knees to try and soften the blow, he stayed outstretched, that is why it was a justifiable red, it was an awful challenge.

  5. Ahaha. Unfortunately I suspect this means more of Reiss Nelson. My guess is he will take the left and Pepe the right. Like everyone though, my hope is that the aggressive energizer bunny Martinelli starts!

  6. It’ll be carry on as we were with one of Martinelli or Saka coming in in place of Auba. Auba didn’t score in the utd game and we done just fine, but he did have a very good performance that day.

    Pepe has a goal in him it’s whether we get the ball to his feet inside the box or at the edge of it, I expect Pepe to take a number of swings, he likes to have a pop.

    Martinelli, if we can give him the ball while we are on the move and opponents back peddling, he can twist and turn and has the ability to nestle it into a top corner, he strikes the ball well and his positioning is clever.

    Saka, another tricky player on his day, these guys we have can be exciting, but we need them to play as a team and get to know each other’s movements, but not overplay it ..just take the shot.

    Nelson helps to keep the ball rolling, he can be good in possession.

    Lacazette. I think we’ll see a marked improvement in Lacazettes final box play, he’ll take snapshots on the turn or with half a yard, I think it will all come back to him, and if I was betting, my money would be on him to open the scoring.

    I think there is a good chance that they’ll look good together, in-sync.

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