Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 2019/20 Performances

[Rex Stone]

Alexis showed signs of dropping off whilst he was with us. He stopped running at players and getting in behind as much- wanted the ball a lot more to feet. He was still fantastic but that burst of pace he had left him. Torres was completely done over by injuries, he (and Carragher) admitted he was rushed back a few times as well.

I think Auba will be fine- there’s no way to know for sure of course but all the signs are positive.

Have to see but just not sure there’s a body of evidence for it in other players. Don’t think people realise how rare it is for someone to still be performing at that age.

Take this season. There are 28 players who’ve played in a PL game aged 33 or above. If you exclude goalkeepers, defenders and defensive midfielders that leaves three players.

Of those three players only one (David Silva) has played 1000 minutes. The oldest striker to play 1000 minutes in the PL this year is Shane Long at 32.

Giroud and Glen Murray have an outside shot at making it but it’s unlikely. Last season is the same, Murray the only striker or attacking mid 33 or above to get 1000+ minutes.

The PL compared to other leagues is getting younger and younger. Beyond Auba’s current contract expiry age of 32 it’s a struggle for older players to even make it on to the pitch let alone perform up to a 250k weekly salary.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

I think Auba's request is quite reasonable. We struggle with chance creation and we need someone we can rely on for goals. The pressure on Martinelli and Co would be unfair and would set them up yo leave. This buys us time and if Auba fails, then j think he would consider China or the MLS instead of sitting on his contract. The token amount for Miki plus the savings on his wages allow is to afford this. Sokratis has said he won't sit on his contract and Laca must surely be sold even for a nominal fee. If Özil can be released and Mustafi, Guendouzi and Torreira are sold, we have a thin squad but actual money freed up and coming in to rebuild. Its been a while since we've had that ability. I'm a broken record here but with FFP suspended, this is our best chance to rebuild properly in a way we never could in the Wenger years. Get this done and hope for the best.

 

[Trilly]

I don't see a problem with this?

Might be a little bit annoying in the final year but **** it.

 

[Beksl]

Both of our wing forwards are playing very narrow with a central striker droping deep to collect the pass. As far as I'm concerned Auba is already playing the central role by utilising this part of the pitch. Starting from a more wider areas enables him to exploit his intelligent movement thus creating space for the overlapping wingbacks. If he plays a more strict CF position he's less impactful as there is less space to attack with his movement.

I really like how Arteta has defined his role, I think he can score 30 in the league if we can sort out the midfield.

 

[roz]

Serious question: is Aubameyang capable of playing as a CF in Arteta's system?

Exactly this.

Big risk imo. If we are offered 45+million I would take it and reinvest.

Whilst he’d be an excellent option to have in the squad is he really going to flourish on the wing? Will it be the best use of our resources?

Not convinced by a game against Norwich. Haven’t seen him do enough since Arteta took over.

 

[juice man]

Think you make a few phone calls first and see what he can fetch for you. Gut feeling is that anything north of 40M is probably worth talking about. Anything else you sign him up and see how the next 3 years go.

 

[African Flair]

Does "only" looking for 250k? Cool whatever. Just give it to him. And a 50k per goal bonus.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Have to see but just not sure there’s a body of evidence for it in other players. Don’t think people realise how rare it is for someone to still be performing at that age.

Take this season. There are 28 players who’ve played in a PL game aged 33 or above. If you exclude goalkeepers, defenders and defensive midfielders that leaves three players.

Of those three players only one (David Silva) has played 1000 minutes. The oldest striker to play 1000 minutes in the PL this year is Shane Long at 32.

Giroud and Glen Murray have an outside shot at making it but it’s unlikely. Last season is the same, Murray the only striker or attacking mid 33 or above to get 1000+ minutes.

The PL compared to other leagues is getting younger and younger. Beyond Auba’s current contract expiry age of 32 it’s a struggle for older players to even make it on to the pitch let alone perform up to a 250k weekly salary.

We can play him as a sub when he’s 32, I don’t see him falling of tbh he doesn’t get injured much and never plays international football Tournaments really. If he can play at this level for 2 more years then be a sub/rotation option in his final year it will be worth it.

 

[bingobob]

On the one hand I'd say pay it equally if we can get someone to pay us 45m I'd say take it and go buy Moussa Dembele. The big lad would live off Tierneys crosses. Or go back and dare I say buy Giroud back. And have him share the burden with Martinelli, Pepe and Nketiah.

 

[DanDare]

Auba by all accounts has freakish athleticism. He clearly just works really hard too. Don't know what we should do over next three years of he stays. Staying on the wing working as hard as he is seems a big ask.

How do we shape the team to continue his goal scoring but also move forward with the upcoming talents/purchases up front?

 

[Camron]

On the one hand I'd say pay it equally if we can get someone to pay us 45m I'd say take it and go buy Moussa Dembele. The big lad would live off Tierneys crosses. Or go back and dare I say buy Giroud back. And have him share the burden with Martinelli, Pepe and Nketiah.

 

[Brett]

ok just give him a 3 year contract to him. We need to keep him to have any chance to qualify for champions league.

 

[bingobob]

its a controversial statement. But Giroud at his worst is better than Lacazette at the moment and it would make room for Martinelli, Saka, Nketiah and Pepe.

Anyway it won't happen and was more a passing thought on what options we have. If we keep Aubameyang great if we sell him we need to replace him. Dembele is a long term solution someone like Giroud is a stop gap to allow these other players from to grow.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Vardy is 33. I remember a lot predicting a huge fall off for him too because similarly he's reliant on pace and movement. It's clear to see Auba still has a lot left in the tank. Itd be different if he had an issue with injuries but he's kept himself relatively fit and healthy for so long.

There's very few players out there who could replace what Auba gives us so if there's a chance of tying him down for a few notes years then we have to take it. Worse case scenario we use him as an option off the bench in a couple of years. Even if his pace does go his movement and his lethal finishing are probably just as big of assets as is his electrifying pace.

 

[Football Manager]

He isn't pace reliant in my opinion. To be honest I thought he would be quicker than he actually is, from everything we heard about him in the Bundesliga. Probably just goes to show how fast Premier league centre halves are.

What he is is a world class goal scorer, his record is spectacular. He also is really fit and a great athlete, he's really lean and never gets injured which bodes well for the coming years.

What he is worth to Arsenal (20 pl goals a season) even for a few years is worth a lot more than the 30m we'd probably get for him in the window.

He also seems a great character in the dressing room which is important for the young lads.

Even if you are right (that his clever movement don’t need pace to support, and so he won’t become a useless player when he lost his pace). His physical attributes will be in a gradual decline at his age.

If he is declining in his overall attributes as a player, why agreeing to give him a pay rise?

You don’t pay a high price for a stock which you can foresee its decrease in value in the future.

A small pay cut to compensate the decline in ability and the decreasing in his future re-selling value is the most logical approach if we wanted to keep him.

Or in the clause, we could promise to support him with coaching course and reserve a back room staff position for him. So that the contract looks slightly more attractive to him (even with a small pay cut), and he could add value to the club by helping the coaching staff. In this case, at least we could benefits from him brining more to us (adding value), rather than us having an asset that will only drop in value.

If he demanded a pay rise, I would rather letting him go and play more of martinelli and john jules.

That’s why I always support the liverpool coutinho buying and selling model. We really need to buy and sell players at that age.

 

[Tosker]

as things stand, I reckon a three year contract is a bigger leap of faith on his side than ours, and we'd be fools not to take the chance

 

[baccy_man]

I can't see why people want to write Auba off when he gets to 32 when Henry was playing i think he was about 34 / 35 when he retired and he was still scoring at decent rates,

 

[MikelHadADream]

250k isn’t terrible but paying him that when he’s 35 could be tough.

Very small number of top strikers who play like him who are still productive at that age.

Even if we get one more top class season out of him, its worth it imo

Even if you are right (that his clever movement don’t need pace to support, and so he won’t become a useless player when he lost his pace). His physical attributes will be in a gradual decline at his age.

If he is declining in his overall attributes as a player, why agreeing to give him a pay rise?

You don’t pay a high price for a stock which you can foresee its decrease in value in the future.

A small pay cut to compensate the decline in ability and the decreasing in his future re-selling value is the most logical approach if we wanted to keep him.

Or in the clause, we could promise to support him with coaching course and reserve a back room staff position for him. So that the contract looks slightly more attractive to him (even with a small pay cut), and he could add value to the club by helping the coaching staff. In this case, at least we could benefits from him brining more to us (adding value), rather than us having an asset that will only drop in value.

If he demanded a pay rise, I would rather letting him go and play more of martinelli and john jules.

That’s why I always support the liverpool coutinho buying and selling model. We really need to buy and sell players at that age.

First of all, for what he has done for the club, Auba deserves a pay rise.

Regarding Coutinho, Liverpool sold a player that didn't really fit Klopp's system and was easily replaced (always thought he was quite overrated at Liverpool). Auba is our best and most important player.

If you just look at it financially, giving Auba this deal would cost the club approx 40m over 3 years. It's highly unlikely we get a player that would produce as much as Auba over those 3 years for the same price.

Only Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski and Aguero have scored 20plus league goals in 5 consecutive seasons, Auba is 1 goal away from joining them.

The guy is so underrated imo, especially when you factor in the dross he's played with.

 

[Rex Stone]

We can play him as a sub when he’s 32, I don’t see him falling of tbh he doesn’t get injured much and never plays international football Tournaments really. If he can play at this level for 2 more years then be a sub/rotation option in his final year it will be worth it.

I think he’s got another one maybe two years as an elite player as well. If we extend him with three years I’m assuming that takes him to 2024 though.

If you let him leave on a free we get another great season at his peak and we could avoid paying him huge money at 34 where it could be dicey.

Even if we get one more top class season out of him, its worth it imo

That’s my point though, we’d get a top class season out of him without extending him. Under contract for another year.

 

[Football Manager]

I can't see why people want to write Auba off when he gets to 32 when Henry was playing i think he was about 34 / 35 when he retired and he was still scoring at decent rates,

Henry had technical ability with him, and he was a smart player, which when his physical side drops with age, he could still rely on other things.
Aubameyang is a smart player too (although Henry was on another level) but he really doesn't have that technical ability to help him out if his pace drops.
And at which level was Henry performing well at that age?