Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Black Panther

[Tsl]

I'm really astounded of the stick Aubameyang is getting. He is not only our top scorer but the overall top scorer in the league. Since his arrival to the Premier League, only Salah has scored more goals. We've been screaming for a goal scorer for ages. Now we finally have one, and people are still moaning. I love Lacazette, but he did not score in these type of games last season. Giroud did not do that consistently either. Our problems defensively are not due to Aubameyang or Özil not putting enough effort in. It's due to the fact, that we have the worst defenders in the top six. Nothing else.
Maybe Aubameyang doesn't participate in the build-up play, as much as some people would like, but should that really be necessary, when we have players around him such as Özil, Laca, Mhikytarian, and Iwobi, who are all very good at exactly that? We should be able to create more chances for him. If he gets the chance, he scores. His movement is absolutely world class. So what about enjoying the fact, that we have a persistent goal scorer rather than criticizing his defensive abilities.

 

[DasBootist]

Yup.
Unless we start creating more chances regularly I hope we don’t see him at CF again when everyone is fit. It’s like playing with 10 men at times

If football matches were won by distance covered on the pitch, I'd be inclined to agree.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

This idea of wanting strikers involved in the build up play is so bizarre. The last few league titles winners, the main strikers were Costa, Vardy and Aguero. Aguero granted does get involved at times, but certainly Costa and Vardy were more relied upon for their ability to get in behind, their movement and the fact they were killers in the box. If you really need your striker getting involved in the build up then to me it says that your creative players can't be trusted in getting the ball into areas for your striker to get chances. Though I don't think that was too much of a problem today we created a few opportunities, perhaps not as many as we'd have liked but I don't think we struggled either.

 

[OnlyOne]

This idea of wanting strikers involved in the build up play is so bizarre. The last few league titles winners, the main strikers were Costa, Vardy and Aguero. Aguero granted does get involved at times, but certainly Costa and Vardy were more relied upon for their ability to get in behind, their movement and the fact they were killers in the box. If you really need your striker getting involved in the build up then to me it says that your creative players can't be trusted in getting the ball into areas for your striker to get chances. Though I don't think that was too much of a problem today we created a few opportunities, perhaps not as many as we'd have liked but I don't think we struggled either.

I agree with what you say butI look at those teams you mention, and they all had other goal scorers in them. Hazard got 16 the season they won, LCFC had Mahrez with 17, and City have a bunch of goal scorers. With just Auba we don't have enough which is why Lacazette has to start, he is still a goal scorer.

I just think when defenders have have more to worry about Auba can excel.

 

[rich 1990]

if he continues this form, he'll be the top of the list of
Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and a few major players who are on the lookout for strikers.

This is the type of post that presses the case for a dislike button on AM.

 

[Red London]

Auba can effect games out of nothing. Him + Laca is a great combo because of their different skill sets. One is quick and lethal position wise, the other has great hold up ability as well as ball control and passing.

I am slighty concerned about the balance around them, I still think there is work to be done to how the team plays into the duo. I would really like to see a plan B direct player who takes the ball down the byline

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

1 goal and 1 goal less than Lacazette in 18 less games in the league. Auba is a real killer!

More to come I believe also!

 

[krackpot]

This is the type of post that presses the case for a dislike button on AM.

you're the reason there isn't a dislike button on A-M.

 

[juice man]

How are people finding a way to complain about the league's top goal scorer? The agendas around here are ridiculous sometimes. Just be happy he's ours and playing well.

 

[Giroud12]

What are you on about? He's a striker, his job is to score goals. He is currently joint top scorer despite playing mostly on the wing. What the **** does he have to do to please some of you people? Create peace in the Middle East as well?

You don't know how incredible it is that we got Auba for 60 mill while Manu and Chelsea have to absolute donkeys messing about up top. I bet most of you started supporting the club after the likes of Chamakh, Gervinho and Sanogo started game in game out.

 

[Rain Dance]

I agree with what you say butI look at those teams you mention, and they all had other goal scorers in them. Hazard got 16 the season they won, LCFC had Mahrez with 17, and City have a bunch of goal scorers. With just Auba we don't have enough which is why Lacazette has to start, he is still a goal scorer.

I just think when defenders have have more to worry about Auba can excel.

And that's other players' problem not Auba's

 

[OnlyOne]

And that's other players' problem not Auba's

Yeah I've not said it's his problem at all? I like Aubameyandg

 

[OnlyOne]

Who's complaining about Aubameyang? Am I missing something?

@juice man @Giroud12

 

[Toby]

This idea of wanting strikers involved in the build up play is so bizarre. The last few league titles winners, the main strikers were Costa, Vardy and Aguero. Aguero granted does get involved at times, but certainly Costa and Vardy were more relied upon for their ability to get in behind, their movement and the fact they were killers in the box. If you really need your striker getting involved in the build up then to me it says that your creative players can't be trusted in getting the ball into areas for your striker to get chances. Though I don't think that was too much of a problem today we created a few opportunities, perhaps not as many as we'd have liked but I don't think we struggled either.

Think people get deceived by van Persie's technical ability and allround game. While he had brilliant technique, was involved in passing and could pick a smart pass himself, almost like a playmaker, he still wasn't one, and never was that much involved in build up as people seem to remember. He was a great lone striker first and foremost, albeit with brilliant technique, intelligence and good allround game. Very much like Aguero, who's neither too involved in build up at all times. Or the Liverpool times Fernando Torres who was very reliant on his pace as a goalscorer as we all learned later, but also had great technique, intelligence, could pick a pass and be involved in the allround game - still he was a lone striker first and foremost. Lewandowski is another great example: Just 'cause a striker isn't a limited fox in the box and can actually pass a ball, doesn't mean he's involved in the actual build up, especially not all the time.

Some may come up with Firmino and his very rounded game, but he's essentially an attacking midfielder at CF and never puts out the numbers the mentioned strikers have.

Thinking about it while I write this, I think that whole generation of lone strikers in the prime time of the "pure" 451 around 2008 to 2014 maybe, who all had intelligence, movement, at least average passing abilites and a knack for scoring - van Persie, Torres, Villa, Rooney, Tevez, Klose, Ibrahimovic, young Benzema; Aguero, Suárez and Lewandowski at the tailgate of that era - they all came up educated to become such lone strikers and were constantly tasked with playing that role and deceive a lot of people on this forum, maybe because of the age of users, that strikers have to be involved in build up, cause the memory of what they actually did on the field is more blurred than the memory of their general allround abilites, which highly suggest them being some sort of do it all wonder strikers, which they were or are not - just a different breed that's slowly dying out as we see the game shifting to more foxes in the box with pace and movement (Vardy, Aubameyang, Icardi), pacey scoring wingers as goal outlets (Neymar, Hazard, all of City's wingers) and 2 man front rows again (Werner+Augustin/poulsen, Alcacer+Reus, Costa+Griezmann, Benzema+Ronaldo, Higuain+Dybala/Mandzukic, Suarez+Messi) or even 3 men striker frontlines of very mixed indivudual qualities (Rebic+Haller+Jovic, Barca, Gladbach, Saint-Germain) - and we can see the changing profiles of strikers to come shifting more away from the lone striker times to something else, which is also very much linked to the increasing pace of the game: Mbappe, Griezmann, Rebic, Santi Mina, Werner, Jovic, Rashford, Alli, Gabriel Jesus. This doesn't mean that they score less goals or are worse players, but just that we see a definite shift in striker types used and coming up in recent years, and that people just haven't come to terms with this as they are used to seeing a different type of striker and their memory on them also betrays them a bit.

I think this is also a great historical way to look at things. We sometimes tend to not fully understand the role great individuals, managers and players alike, had on the game beyond their goals and trophies. I think for example Ronaldo and Messi starting out as wingers and then adding a great amount of output becoming winger/striker hybrids has shaped the view of how wingers should operate and of what use they are. So we can actually see how they influence the game beyond their success in how they are the forebearers of redefining roles and thus are a part of how the game evolves.

I agree with what you say butI look at those teams you mention, and they all had other goal scorers in them. Hazard got 16 the season they won, LCFC had Mahrez with 17, and City have a bunch of goal scorers. With just Auba we don't have enough which is why Lacazette has to start, he is still a goal scorer.

High scoring, direct wingers are a common trait of this current era of football and with only a good scoring striker you won't even win a pot of flowers. Teams needs goalscorers from elsewhere. And while there was an era of the high scoring attacking midfielders/second strikers like Gerrard and Lampard and Kaka and Raul - which incidentally overlaps to a good degree with the era of lone strikers and symmetrical 451 - etc. it's the wingers now.

 

[ThlRama]

@Toby Andrl , great post. Would also like to once more add what I've been saying all along: While we had Giroud, who (during patches of good form) was amazing at linking up the play, holding up the ball and utilizing long balls, people were complaining and always focusing on how the primary task of a striker is to score goals. Now we've got Aubameyang scoring goals like a machine gun and you get the opposite, people complaining about him not offering enough in with his all-round game. And I will say that a lot of his contribution does get overlooked, he doesn't add very, very much but he is far from totally useless in things other than finishing. Compare him to Lukaku or Icardi, two very expensive and sought-after strikers, and suddenly he doesn't look that one-dimensional.

 

[dbig]

Should have gotten him years ago instead of sticking with project Walcott.

 

[ThlRama]

Our best player. A complete forward's performance today.

 

[krackpot]

Flawless finish.

 

[krengon]

10 shots on target, 10 goals, unbelievable stat( "luckily" offside for his big miss )

What a 2nd half performance. motm

 

[El Duderino]

Needs to start centrally with/behind Lacazette. We've got two goal machines and we need them both at their best positions.