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Should Arsenal drop Aubameyang against Benfica?

Arsenal’s rollercoaster season continues as we prepare to face Benfica in Athens on Thursday. The fact is that we should have had a good advantage going into this return, but we seem to have a massive problem putting the ball in the back of the net.

Aubameyang had a few chances to put us ahead last week, and one of them was practically unmissable! As aubameyang himself said after the game….

When Arteta scored his first ever hat-trick for us against Leeds we thought he had finally emerged from the doldrums, but it appears it was just another false dawn. Other than the Leeds game, Arsenal have scored just one other goal this month in 4 League games.

Mikel Arteta tried to play down our captain’s misses in the first leg, when he said: “Well, these things happen,”

“He was at the end of the biggest chances that we had tonight.

“He was unlucky not to score two or three tonight because in normal circumstances that would be the case.”

It was even worse against Man City, with the Gunners only managing one shot on target in the whole game, with Aubameyang hardly getting hold of the ball. Arteta said after that game: “For me, the biggest issue was that when we found some big openings against them which is really difficult to do with their organisation, I think we did that many times today, but the final pass and final product wasn’t good enough, so obviously you’re not going to hit the target. But the attacking threat you create is not only with the shots you create, but also the situations you’re able to create. That leads to results.”

So, how can the boss change things in Athens? We should certainly have Smith-Rowe back in the side, and maybe Arteta should be playing Lacazette, Martinelli and Pepe along the front line…

Do you think it is time to leave Aubameyang on the bench?

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34 Comments

  1. And how many games will you take to say we should bench laca for auba, we have been having decent strikers but laca is worse

    1. We suffer but let us keep it real. Remember lord Bendtner, the elusive Fox in the box Jeffers? Since you are talking about strikers, one of the best in the EPL is Aguero. Without service, he will bring nothing to the table. His contribution in defence is huge, without a PM he connects the stickers and leads the attack better than the rest. Playing without Laca is a massive loss. Get the assists to Laca and Auba and they will show their worth. Good stickers get better after 28 years old man. Our problem is not the gunners it is the ammunition and crucially the one trusted to manage it.

  2. Lacazette.

    Martinelli. Smith-Rowe. Saka.

    Xhaka. Ceballos.

    Tierney. Gabriel. Luiz. Cedric.

    Leno.

    Subs – Aubameyang, Odegaard.

    My team for Benfica.

    1. Would pick that exact same team as you S.j,
      If he goes with that team they will win by 2 goals definitely,
      Have a feeling he will play Bellerin, auba, odegarrd,

    1. Agreed! Team selection with City was a demonstration of throwing the towel. The buck stops with the ‘manager’. We only have the Europa League to play for. My team for the remaining matches if all are fit is:
      Laca
      Aubameyang Martinelli Odegaard
      Thomas
      Tierney Elneny Saka
      Gabriel Luiz
      Leno
      Subs:
      either Willlian or Smith-Rowe (4 Martinelli), Cedric (4 Saka), Xhaka when Thomas is not fit
      Chambers (4 Elneny ), Balogun (4 Laca), Mari (4 Luiz), Ryan (4 Leno). Unless injuries stick with this team to May 2021 & a new manager.

      2. So you are one of these blinkered no nothing’s who thinks that Holding is deadwood after the Shitty goal. Typical and why is Eleny in your team, because he’s a nice guy? Your selection is spineless. Nothing will improve. Laca and Auba will cancel each other out making minimal impact. Odergaard is overrated and can’t create. Luiz will hold up the play. What solidity will his combination with Gabriel bring? Two Portuguese speaking headless chickens. Thank god coaches don’t listen to fans.

  6. He seems to have a great influence in the dressing room and he was one of the biggest reasons we won against Leeds, so dropping him in this month would likely upset the others. Arteta had better move him back to the left wing or make sure the attackers’ positional swap work in the Benfica game

    If he still can’t perform well there, then we could replace him with Martinelli, Nelson or Willian for the left wing

    1. Players are selected to deliver results. Not to please anyone or annoy anyone coz they are not selected. Drop Auba bring Marinello, Rowe , Saka and Pepe

      1. I’d prefer a right-footed attacker on the left wing, to let him cut inside more often and open up some pace for Tierney to run to. Pepe could replace Saka on the right wing in the second half, if Saka is tired or injured

        1. Pepe is much better on the left as he is left footed. When he plays on the right he has to check his run turn inside to get the ball on his left foot by that time defenders have recovered and he usually ends up loosing control of the ball.

    2. KEEP THE BOSS. The problem is not with him. If need be after 1st half he wastes a couple of opps then bring in Martinelli but not Willian on the wing, he is as useless as Pepe on the other side. Both need to be moved inside. Underperforming staff should be dropped. That includes the ‘manager’. No! Why not?

      1. ‘waste lots of opportunity?’ like you are expecting benfica allow us create 100 goalscoring chances?
        one of the aspect i hate in football is the special favorism towards attackers. to us it ok if attack miss chances but just a mistake from defender or goalie, we all put them to the sword. its ok for Auba to miss a sittter but its not ok for Bellerin , Holdin, and other defenders to misstime challenge.

        no wonder the awards are mostly reserved for strikers and sometimes midfielders

      2. Aubameyang is definitely one of the problems, because he should’ve made a consistent partnership with Lacazette by now

  7. The problem is that all the other options are the same, Martinelli is not 100% ready and Laca is sometimes “risky”!

    Not sure if it’s a good idea to play someone else during this time!

    1. i hope martinelli start too. though he hasnt impress me much this season due to is injuries, i hope he get back his last season form.

      OT: Guendozi really need to calm down, same issue that forced him out on loan is reoccuring at Harther, his career is on the line and the world is watching, what is talent without character.he is 22, almost same age as Mbappe who is a multiple award winner, messi ,cr7 never abuse or fight their teamates and coaches to be great

  9. Leeds don’t have as good a squad as us but they have a better manager … play way better football but make mistakes still will finish the evening above us … arteta has had his shot at glory … prematurely … we need to move on … we will get nothing out of this season so focus has to be on clearing out the deadwood and rebuilding with a serious coach

  10. I thought we were all singing ” Sign da thing” and watching Hour glass for hours.
    We were deceived afterall and it is also too late to offload him because no team can afford the wage bill at his age.
    SMH……………

  11. Whoever he plays, this match is a must win as it is our only route to Europe next season. Our season shouldn’t end in February.

  12. Put Auba LW, Lacca CF, Saka RW.

    Now, if we get dumped out of Europa by the mighty Benfica tomorrow, I shall begin my transition out of Arsenal. I no longer feel a connection with this team, players, coach, management or even feel any satisfaction watching our sluggish style of play. Life is too short, and I’ve given Arsenal enough of my years. My goodness, I even feel relieved just typing this.

  13. My problem with Arteta is that he is not opening up the team for competition. It almost as if we don’t have an Academy.

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