Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired in a hat-trick to set Barcelona onto a 4-1 win over Valencia at the weekend, which naturally poses questions of Arsenal’s decision to allow him to leave for free.
The Gunners have won both of their matches since the Gabon international departed, so we have little reason to question our ability to cope in his absence at present, but the fact that he netted a hat-trick on his first start in Spain has to bring some angst.
While it is easy to be angered by his performance, the fact of the matter is that he only had four goals for us this term before being dropped after a falling out with manager Mikel Arteta, so his contribution to us this term before being allowed to leave was nothing like his immediate impact for Barca.
On one hand, you can blame our tactics for his failings, but the fact is that Auba played down the middle of a front three on Sunday, not dissimilar to his role for us this season, but with much less output.
I personally think we play more as a unit in his absence, and it wouldn’t shock me if Auba had asked to leave the club in December. His contribution for our team simply hasn’t been enough considering the contract he was on, especially when remember his close-range misses in front of goal.
I don’t think his goals with Barca should really matter to the decision taken by Arsenal, but I understand that it makes sense to question the manager’s role in his failings in an Arsenal shirt this season.
Does it say more about Auba or Arsenal that he has nearly equalled his four league goals for us this term in just his first start for the Catalan club?
Patrick