Mikel Arteta has opened up on the stunning form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in this campaign
The club captain suffered an uncharacteristic slump in form last season and scored only 10 goals in the league.
His poor form contributed to Arsenal finishing the campaign in a lowly 8th position.
After adding the likes of Ben White and Albert Sambi Lokonga to the squad, Arsenal is having a better season and will hopefully end it inside the European places.
Aubameyang has been instrumental to the Gunners’ return to form and it is not just his goals that have stood him out.
The Gabonese striker has also had a different attitude on and off the pitch and he seems to be enjoying life at Arsenal so much more once again.
Ahead of his team’s match against Leicester City tomorrow, Arteta spoke about the striker’s transformation from last season and reveals they discussed the poor campaign.
Now Auba has hit top form and he is acting as the perfect leader for this young Arsenal team.
‘Obviously when you have a season where as a team and individually we haven’t fulfilled our expectations, we have to find the reasons why,’ explained Arteta as quoted by The Daily Mail.
‘How we can change, how we can improve, how we can help him to improve certain things that are going to have a huge impact on the team.
‘He’s been so willing to lead from the start and I’m so pleased because his role is different to the one that he had two or three years ago. Now he needs to lead in every sense and he’s doing that and I’m really happy with it.
‘I think he is enjoying it and as you can see on the pitch, he is playing with a smile on his face. He is transmitting energy, passion, willingness – not only on the pitch but outside the pitch as well.
‘That’s what we want. A happy Auba is linked with his character and that’s what he’s able to transmit to everybody. That energy is always positive for the team.’
With 4 goals from 8 league matches so far, Aubameyang looks set to end this season with up to 20 goals.
If he can score that much, Arsenal would easily end the campaign in a better position than last season, considering they have also fixed their leaky defence.