Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spoke to Sky Sports after the 2-2 draw with Sp*rs at the Emirates this evening.
This is what he had to say (he really is a master of the post-match soundbite!). Read the report and see the goals here.
You were looking for three points, when you’re 2-0 down is a point a good result?
I think so. In the first half I thought we deserved to score two goals, but that’s not what happened. We are not happy. We did a great job. We played well. It was a tough game. I think we deserved more.
How much did you think you contributed to your own downfall? You could have done better for their goals.
Yeah. I think after those two goals, we started to be under pressure so we pushed a lot. Laca scored the first one, then in the second half, we had some chances. We scored the second one. I think we had the space to score the third one but as I said it was a tough game so it’s a draw tonight.
[Supremely impressive shirking of the question here]
Do you think the timing of Lacazette’s goal was crucial to give you something?
Of course. When you go in the dressing room with a goal it’s positive so everyone knows we have more power and we’ll come back stronger in the second half, so it was really crucial to come back.
Great finish for your goal, but how good was the pass from Guendouzi?
Great pass! He looked at me, and he knew I was going to run and the ball was perfect. I have to say the goal goes down to his pass.
Are you happier/more dangerous as the central striker?
As I always said I like to play striker but when the team needs me on the wing, I go and I try my best.
Loved Guendouzi today. What a player! Emery deserves credit for sticking with him last season. I know I had my reservations.
Sven gets the credit for him and Torreira. You have doubts on Guendouzi but love defending Xhaka. It’s 2019 and we still haven’t got rid of Squillaci and Denilson.
And Lichtsteiner, right, too? And Mavropanos? Come on. Somebody has to play them and put faith in them, and that’s the coach, not Sven.
Also, I don’t love defending Xhaka. I do, however, like to think carefully about what qualities a player has. We need better than Xhaka.
How can you judge Mavropanos when he hasn’t even played. Regularly fucking up with the playing XI was what Rafa Benitez use to do. Emery must understand he needs to field one system in order for a better chemistry between the players. Yes we cried for Arsene to change his tactics when he would get it wrong, but Emery seems to be playing according to opposition style. We have a great forward line up and today i think he messed it again by not playing a CAM. We need one system and a few tweaks to it, clearly rotating the… Read more »
Mavropanos has looked decidedly average the few times he has played and has proven injury prone to the extreme. And your silence on Lichtsteiner was deafening.
Emery doesn’t tinker like Benitez. Klopp and Guardiola play different formations and players depending on the opposition. Emery needs to manage the youth and expectations of Willock, and a new midfielder in Ceballos. Chill.
Me not mentioning Lichtsteiner itself meant he was bad. I am not EmeryOut or Anti-Emery, i love Klopp and even he had the same start like Emery in his first season when Liverpool were leaking goals for Fun so did Guardiola. I understand Emery needs his time but i can’t understand his decision making at times like today with that firepower he chose to go with 3 defensive midfield players. Xhaka for me has always been a liability.
@mayor
You are saying a 20 yo looked avg in his debut as an arsenal player? Even though I beg to differ, he actually looked like a player with some nice upside when AW gave him a little run when he first got here
No one is perfect in transfers. Licht didn’t cost anything but wages.
I’m not arguing that anyone is perfect on transfers. My point was that Comedian’s effort to refuse to credit Emery with having faith in Guendouzi is uncharitable at best.
Emery tinkers all the time
How can you judge Mavropanos when he hasn’t even played. Regularly changing the playing XI was what Rafa Benitez use to do. Emery must understand he needs to field one system in order for a better chemistry between the players. Yes we cried for Arsene to change his tactics when he would get it wrong, but Emery seems to be playing according to opposition style. We have a great forward line up and today i think he messed it again by not playing a CAM. We need one system and a few tweaks to it, clearly rotating the squad and… Read more »
“Yes we cried for Arsene to change his tactics when he would get it wrong, but Emery seems to be playing according to opposition style”
Weird “but.” I’m glad we have a manager who considers the opposition in selecting formations, tactics, and players. All the best managers do this these days.
If only laca was fit for 90 mins we really could have won.
i think we could have even if laca wasnt.
his replacement didnt add or do enough
Starting to think the Mkhi doll would add more to this squad than his real life counterpart.
Our attack is one of the best in the league, you cannot tell me it isn’t. Yet anyone who watches can see that there is no system, it’s just chaos. Good managers like Klopp build an identity that takes years, which is what he did at Dortmund. Why the fuck do our fans keep comparing us to Liverpool and Emery to Klopp? Emery is mediocre, and there’s no surprise that he was a Gazidis appointment. At what point will fans realise that there’s more damage in having a mediocre coach control a highly talented group of players (bar Xhaka) than… Read more »
A defence wide open in every single match, did we not appoint Emery because he was apparently a proficient coach? Where the fuck is this coaching then? Certainly not in defence, in transition, or in attack, where our elite forwards continue to bail out a failing system
Calm down dude…ffs it’s the 4th game of the fkn season with a completely new team being built. Have some fkn perspective – we are in year 2 of what will be a massive post-wenger rebuild. Emery will get us back into the CL this year no doubt about that. Year 3 will be the season to properly assess his future but as for now, get off his back and be a bit more fkn positive!!
Shove your positivity lol, I want a manager that can match the potential of this team
The potential of this team is competing for a top4 position, and I think we’ll do that. If you think this team is better than that? You’re deluded. Exactly the same question about Klopp defensively just 20 months ago, he then buys a centre half, a keeper and two top class midfielders, 3years into his reign, and fixes his defensive problems. I think it’s a personnel problem, not a coaching problem, but Niles is improving all the time, we’ve got Bellerin+ Tierney, Holding to come back. Our midfield is young, Guendouzi 20, Torreira 23, Ceballos 23 and still settling in,… Read more »
I agree with most of what ya said but not sure about CL,, I’m looking at the league goals conceded and already we now have 6 in four games which is pretty poor
Aye, but half of those against Liverpool.
I’d’ve like at least 3 or 4 points from the last 2 games, but such is life. To date we’ve not dropped points against teams we really certainly should beat. Man U, Chelski and Spuds all have… The season is long and from what I’ve seen so far I think we’ll have enough to get 3rd. Just need to iron out a few teething issues
Jai, Emery’s a million miles better at coaching, than you are a posting.
Ah right, thing is, as fans we have every right to speak whatever we want. Unless you think people can’t question managers anymore? Scary world if you think that!
Agreed, he has so many options in the middle now. I realize he wants some experience and seniority in the team, but Xhaka doesn’t suit us anymore. This was a game to take a risk with Ceballos or Willock or hell, even Ozil as the third midfielder. He got scared because it was a back 4 and wanted someone more “defensive” in front of the back line. The problem is Xhaka is liability as a defender and cost us again.
Since his Premier League debut in August 2016, no player has conceded more penalties in the competition than the five by Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka.
Relax there champ…the identity that you are tom-toming about Klopp and Liverpool only came about in his third full season with the Liverpool team after about 6 transfer windows. This is a squad that has seen a major churn in the last one year, with Emery trying to build up a squad comprising of the type of players he wants. Teams take time – multiple training sessions and repeated matches together to build cohesion, any distinctive style of play. The season has only started, it was the first time this front three and the back four of today played together.… Read more »
Klopp is a great manager. There is no comparison. I don’t know why certain fans keep comparing Liverpool to arsenal rebuild or klopp to emery? Liverpool were worse off when klopp took over compared to emery.
It took klopp 4 transfer windows(Jan ‘16-sum ‘17) to get his team going in the start of 2017.
Emery has had 3 windows already. There is no identity or idea wtf he is doing. He’s a small to mid tier club manager. He doesn’t belong with the bigger clubs.
Not sure it’s worth responding to a clearly hyperventilating poster, but Emery’s system was good today. The front three played marvelously well together and should have done more with their opportunities, especially Pepe, who is still finding his rhythm. It is hugely disappointing that Laca couldn’t finish the game, and Mkhitaryan’s uselessness was a surprise, even for the middling bar he’s set for himself in recent years. Emery loves to use his fullbacks (like most modern managers). The fact that he’s been forced to work with AMN and Kolasinac is not ideal (which is not to say they were bad… Read more »
*second season
why put mkhitariyan on over ozil, just goes to show emery has ego issues.
people will slag mesut off for that performance if it were him insteadof mikhi.
ozil would have the composure to create one great chance in those last few minutes,mikhi did nothing except giv ethe ball away.
i dont know who got the worst deal arsenal or united
It’s Arsenal all things considered cos fuck United.
Guendouzi was immense! Constantly covering for the annoying Xhaka and never shying away from a battle. He ran his socks off! Could do with more of that mentality in this team. Clearly lacking especially in comfortable, high paid mediocre players such as Mkhi and Xhaka even Sokratis showed his erratic worst today.
Worries about Emery in this. Fear this is where he tried to ease Willock out of the team. He doesn’t seem to know his players. Nelson is raw but he could skin Sanchez in those last 20. That was obvious. Two London boys who would have worked their socks off instead Mkhi comes on the left wing. Thinking he may bottle bringing Holding in too, which one will he drop can’t see either to be honest. Remember this is the manager who wanted Banega and Denis Suarez – he may be a 4th-7th type manager from an era of football… Read more »
Emery has no real history of blooding in elite youth players. He’s a journeyman Sevilla/Valenica level manager. No surprise that Spartak Moscow sacked him either
Sevilla are in the Europa league with us and Valencia are in the champions’ league. Just saying.
I think Willock will be eased in rather than out under Emery. This is the only time he’s dropped him so far. I think we’ll see quite a lot of Willock this season. My impression is that Emery sees Willock, Guendouzi, and Torreira as his future midfield (and Ceballos if we can get him!).
I think Emery likes players like Willock and Nelson, Smith-Rowe etc. He just finds it hard to trust them. But Wenger had an instinct for blooding players which became hit and miss but basically you’ve got to really trust them. Emery has trust issues. And it’ll hold him back from being a memorable manager.
Such BS, he played Guendouzi, he played Holding last year, Nketiah, Willock, Nelson, have all been given chances. Overall little difference to Wenger.
Not BS. We’ll see. Just my hunch is that if his game has no risk how does he blood youngsters when the stakes are high?
Lol nketiah, Nelson, Willock were like 16-17 when wengers last season, did you expect them to be regular subs during that season?
Nelson couldn’t even be consistent match day squad player with hoffenheim last season.
As soon as Xhaka’s name appears on the team sheet, we’re up against it as a team. I really cant see what the ‘manager’ sees in his game that makes him start him whenever hes fit.Theres no room for Xhaka in team. Utter liability.
Clearly Ceballos and Willock have played better than Xhaka this season. Very disappointed that neither of them got a start and Willock didn’t even get on the pitch.
Ceballos had a nightmare against Liverpool. I suspect Emery wanted to protect him in what was inevitably going to be an intense game. Remember, the thing that caught Ceballos by surprise last weekend was the speed of the game. Throwing him into a NLD derby was not the right response to that, and I think it was a good decision by Emery to introduce him in the second half.
Totally agree. But it’s not his ability Emery puts him in the team for. It’s for some naive idea that a player ‘like that’ controls games. A bit like Jan Molby. Emery is I reckon in the wrong era.
Don’t worry, Emery is a man of facts & experience, he will soon find out if he has not done so already. He is slowly relieving some responsibilities off that damn Xhaka. He should remain a dressing room Captain though.
Brilliant second half but our first half display put the game out of reach thanks to Emery stupidity
Xhaka remains Xhaka..nothing to say about that
We passed the easy test as usual(Newcastle and burnley 6points) and we failed the difficult test as usual(liverpool and Tottenham 1 out of 6points) we can’t even beat Tottenham at their lowest form
Same old shit on repeat mode…. Emery is a fraud
Open your eyes arsenal fans..how long shall we continue this way?
You’re like those #SarriOut fans we laughed at last season.
Surely we can give a coach more than one season to prove himself, particularly when you see what he had to work with last year.
Sarri had a pattern of play and identity he was trying to create and we as opposing fans saw it and it paid off at the end and this happened in his first season…what do we get from Emery??
Sarri played with formations and tinkered with midfield, but his basis system was this: give it to Hazard. But Chelsea should have had patience with him. The price was Lampard.
Let’s not be Chelsea fans, ‘k?
I am not #EmeryOut. He signed for 2 seasons, he should get his 2 seasons. But he is very frustrating. He makes odd decisions. On the plus side he is very passionate and ruthless. Wish he could apply his ruthlessness without bias though because the xhaka and mikhi inclusions given his low tolerance for errors/poor perfomance is very confusing.
I suspect that he may not be in full control. The ‘management’ may want some players to have more time on the pitch.
You remove our best player on the pitch and then replace him with a dross called mkhitaryan…our coach is clueless
I don’t hate Emery as a person but i hate the fact that he is our coach….. We got back into the game thanks to the determination of our players…we have no identity under Emery.. I’m so ashamed and fed up…..imagine ceballos from the start
Emery will not take us to the promise land…he can’t be the coach we need…..Emery needs to go before we lose our best players and make it difficult for the next coach….i plead with you guys????…the present and future of this club shouldn’t be damaged by the harmful blind support of Emery
Guendouzi will rule the EPL in a few years.
What a footballer we have on our hands.
My greatest joy is that he’s added end product to his game.
Emery deserves more time to prove doubters wrong. And I think he’ll get top 4. Just won’t be pretty.
Regularly fucking up with the playing XI was what Rafa Benitez use to do. Emery must understand he needs to field one system in order for a better chemistry between the players. Yes we cried for Arsene to change his tactics when he would get it wrong, but Emery seems to be playing according to opposition style. We have a great forward line up and today i think he messed it again by not playing a CAM. We need one system and a few tweaks to it, clearly rotating the squad and not developing a system we will never be… Read more »
I felt even 2 goals down we were going to get back to parity with the attacking line up. Particularly when we started the second half with such vigour, it looked like we could have nicked it. Guendouzi MOTM for me. Energy levels in midfield were great today with either of Torreira-GUendouzi or GUendouzi-Cebellos just ahead of Granit. Ball in to Auba from Guendouzi superb. that’s how you want to play Auba in and make the best use of him. He won’t compete and hold the ball but if you play it into pockets of space just ahead, he will… Read more »