Mikel Arteta says he’s happy with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s performances and that he’s not concerned that his captain has gone four games without a goal.
The Gabon international appeared to have picked up where he left off last season when he netted near-identical goals against Liverpool in the Community Shield and at Fulham on the opening weekend of the Premier League.
However, since putting pen-to-paper on his contract extension, he’s dried up in front of goal.
Facing the media via Zoom ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna, Arteta was asked about the form of his star man.
“With all the strikers, if you ask them when they don’t score for three or four games if there are concerns… in my opinion he is performing right now,” he said.
“He could’ve scored again on Saturday [against Man City] in a one-on-one situation where he normally does.
“We’re trying to get him in better positions as frequently as we can to give him the best possible chance. Goals will come.”
Despite having the option to put 12 players on the bench, the Gunners have travelled to the Austrian capital with a 21-man squad.
Included in the ranks are Shkodran Mustafi, available for the first time since picking up a hamstring issue in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, and new signing Thomas Partey.
The boss had warm words to say about both.
“We have Musti back after a long injury,” he confirmed. “He’s done really well and he looks fit to play, so we still have a big squad. We have 21 players here and we will make the decision tomorrow who starts.
On Partey’s debut at the weekend, he added: “He reacted really well, he came on and look strong and confident [against Man City] and he added something positive to the team.
“It was a very short turnaround for him since he joined the team, he had a day, a day-and-a-half only in training. He has done a few more training sessions and he looks ready to start.”
Let’s hope so because they’re not coming from anyone else much at the moment. If you exclude the opening game against Fulham it’s been pretty dire stuff on the whole – no “showcase” performance like most of the other “top” teams have turned in. It is an odd coincidence that Auba’s goals have dried up at about the same time as he got his massive wage uplift. His overall performance has not been as good either. I suspect that we were going to struggle a bit even with him on top form, but without that I don’t see us making… Read more »
“It is an odd coincidence that Auba’s goals have dried up at about the same time as he got his massive wage uplift”
I’ll give it a few more games tbf but Sanchez and Ozil also performed well before they got their pay rise, we all know what happened after that. May be giving them a huge contract after they have hit their peak has not been the best idea. Our expectations go up but players start to decline.
TBF to Sanchez, his numbers never dropped (even if the atmosphere at the club turned rather vitriolic). He scored 7 goals and provided 3 assists in the 2017-18 season before he departed.
Sanchez got his wage rise at United not here. His numbers at United were pretty bad.
Wenger about the difference between Sanchez at Arsenal and at United: “Özil.”
A couple of months after Özil signed his new contract, the regime changed and the club has since done all their best to kick him out also with a game plan that doesn’t fit his way of playing. Not the best atmosphere to perform. He was still the club’s best creator…. Auba has ALL he needs: trust of all in the club, coach first, captain, game plan made for him.. HUGE DIFFERENCE !
But oh, yes, sorry, Özil is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.
Lot of downvotes but it is true, the law of diminishing returns unfortunately
Well said,this will end up worse than the Ozil situation.
“We’re trying to get him in better positions as frequently as we can to give him the best possible chance.”
Could’ve fooled me.
I’ve seen him have one offside shot and no more than 5 touches in the opposition penalty area in the last 270 minutes.
How on earth is that giving the league’s most lethal finisher the best possible chance?
Seriously Mikel, what are you seeing that we aren’t. Get him off the bloody touchline and between the posts.
#AubaInTheMiddle
If Aubameyang is at left wing again on Sunday, there’s going to be a whole lot of man shouts at cloud. Sometimes football is a simple game. Play your best players in their best positions and see how that works out. No more 32 year old wingers at centre forward, while your world-class centre forward sends in crosses and tracks Mahrez back to his own box. Is that the best use of your resources? Is that fuck. What is going on here? It is so painfully obvious to the entire world what needs to change. Put Saka at left wing… Read more »
This is what I’ve been screaming all along. Why the fuck are you playing him as a winger?!! Arteta is seriously overthinking.
Auba literally shits goals. He has scored plenty for us and will continue to do so. Agree that shifting Auba to the middle seemed to be blindingly obvious but its not like playing Auba consistently in the middle will consistently deliver bags more goals. Finding the balance depending on the scenario is never going to be easy or work 100% of the time, but we tried a thing and we still did ok. Concerns about Arteta’s in-game management a little wide of the mark for me – alright it didnt work as he would have hoped but how we will… Read more »
That sounds painful. Unless they’re tiny goals, I guess.
The goals won’t come for Auba if he spends the entire game trying to be involved in buildup and not on the end of anything. At times against city he was the furthest man back bar the central defence. Seriously Mikel, you are an intelligent guy. This cannot go on any longer.
I have a fear he may refuse to give up on that bullshit. In the beginning he lied to us that he played him there coz he never had enough options, it has now become an obsession. I remember when Dortmund were using him on the wing with Lewandowski as the CF. He wasn’t lethal, he only the machine when Lewa left and he took the CF position
He is so clearly learning on the job, but I do have some concerns about Arteta’s setup and in game management.
The lineup against city was poor, though what worried me most was his inability to change it. Basic moves by Guardiola like putting Walker on Auba and Cancelo to overload midfield were not reacted to. Walker’s on Auba? Well move Auba inside or to the right, do SOMETHING. Don’t just sit there until 83 minutes, chuck Partey on and take the L back to London. So strange, and so disappointing.
Agreed. This is really basic stuff that doesn’t take a PHD to fix. If you look at their average positions map you see a complete imbalance, with Saka and Auba on the same 5 yards of grass and Pepe on his own private island. This isn’t an isolated game either. This whole season has been the same, barring 5 minutes of attacking balance against Sheffield, and what-do-you-know we scored 2 goals. I thought a switch had clicked then and I expected that front three to continue into the city game at least, we would have caused them far more problems… Read more »
Thank god this article exists, this is the number one issue with the team. It’s not the goalkeeper, it’s not the defence, damn it’s not even the midfield at the moment. Auba is not a technical creative player, he is a finisher. A fucking deadly finisher who is being asked to play as a left midfielder. Not only does this stop him getting in dangerous positions, it actually stops our hugely talented and creative left winger in Saka having the keys to the position. The problem is two-fold, it stops balanced attacking moves developing and the opposition see Aubameyang is… Read more »
Talk about wasting Tierney in Central Defense too. He would lethal as a traditional LB
The Arteta Honeymoon is well and truly over. Fans are beginning to wake up to the fact that he is human, after all. In my opinion, he is playing far too many players out of position. Ideally, we should have Auba as an out and out central striker, with Saka on the left wing and Pepe on the right wing. Ideally, Ozil should then play in the number 10 position behind Auba – but hey, there you go. Willian and Ceballos are not and never will be the answer; our midfield ‘creativity’ is non existent at the moment. Playing Auba… Read more »
Goals wouldn’t come fo him or anyone else with this your rigid formation
I hope a proper plan(formation) is in place for that to happen
This is so interesting. I have talked about it and it seems Arteta is the only blind person not to see this. I have never seen Aguero, Vardy, and many great strikers played in the wing to cross balls to midfielders. How do you play Willian as a center forward and keep Auba on wing. Play whatever player and maintain your best forward on the wing and you expect miracles. He has disrespected Auba. I believe Arteta is gaining on the returns for that. It is painful that we have been commenting on the same for ages but no change.… Read more »
Auba’s 8 out of 22 goals last season came against Norwich and Watford
Anyone else here to get away from the Mesut shenanigans blog?
Aubameyang, the captain who liked Özil’s yesterday message?
So much for all the utter bollocks being put about that Ozil was splitting the Arsenal dressing room. The players are behind Ozil, make no mistake.
I’m sorry Arteta, but that doesn’t wash. With the exception of the opening day win against a poor Fulham side, our inability to create chances for the forward line has been awful. The fact that you have now ostracised our best creative midfielder for the rest of this season – a season that it is imperative that this football club get back into the Champions League – is a decision that beggars belief and is little short of self sabotage. As a supporter of this club for nearly half a century, I shall take no pleasure whatsoever from being proved… Read more »
Don’t know why everyone here is so worried, I’ve taken Aubameyang out of my fantasy team now. He’ll score a hattrick next game, guaranteed. Seriously though, his form has been very concerning. Moving him into the middle does seem like an easy fix. But while I ultimately believe it is part of the solution, it’s important to note that he was scoring goals from the left wing last season, including two braces against City and Chelsea in the cup run. I think the key difference between now and then is we’re not getting as much space in behind to hit… Read more »