Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Black Panther

[Gunner140]

Auba had a very good match against Liverpool, but Emery had to try for something different, which was the right move and it ended well for everyone at Arsenal.

 

[Tosker]

 

[ThlRama]

Well worth it, happy for the man.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Well deserved. Player of the month from out of position.

 

[Sniper Mik]

Just not good enough for a player of his calibre. That's probably 4 absolute sitters he's missed in just 2 games this season.

 

[OnlyOne]

Bought him to make the difference, twice now he's let us down. Not good enough atm.

 

[Aevi]

I like him. Still find it weird though that he, a striker, was bought as a replacement for the three wingers (Alexis, Walcott, Chamberlain) we sold. He's a square peg in a round hole at winger, and as good as he is, I can't help but feel it would have been a smarter and more balanced decision to have bought an actual winger. Instead, we've just ended up with a slightly better Walcott; someone who scores goals but otherwise is barely involved.

Before some of you misinterpret this, again, I like him. He's a positive presence in the team and has an impressive goal-scoring record. But playing him as a winger is like playing with 10-men at times, and is disrupting the balance in the team. A winger is now a very big priority atm, maybe even the biggest one with the emergence of Holding to sure up the back line. Our attack is lowkey not that good; we've gone from scrapping wins to scrapping draws, and it's not sustainable.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

That was disappointing performance from auba missed absolute sitter and was invisible most of game

 

[OnlyOne]

I like him. Still find it weird though that he, a striker, was bought as a replacement for the three wingers (Alexis, Walcott, Chamberlain) we sold. He's a square peg in a round hole at winger, and as good as he is, I can't help but feel it would have been a smarter and more balanced decision to have bought an actual winger. Instead, we've just ended up with a slightly better Walcott; someone who scores goals but otherwise is barely involved.

Before some of you misinterpret this, again, I like him. He's a positive presence in the team and has an impressive goal-scoring record. But playing him as a winger is like playing with 10-men at times, and is disrupting the balance in the team. A winger is now a very big priority atm, maybe even the biggest one with the emergence of Holding to sure up the back line. Our attack is lowkey not that good; we've gone from scrapping wins to scrapping draws, and it's not sustainable.

Nah our attack is still very very good, it just didn't come off today. 6 more goals than Sp**s and united, 3 more than Liverpool. We are struggling however with how to fit Auba and Laca in and get the best out of both. Thought they looked pretty good when we switched with 2 up top.

 

[NieThePiet]

He had chances like this so often for Dortmund. But he always get in these positions to have a chance like this, that's why he score so many goals.
And if you have so many chances, sometimes you miss them.

His passing isn't good enough for a LW. He never will be a good LW in our system, because we are not a counter team.

 

[ptrcopp]

He had chances like this so often for Dortmund. But he always get in these positions to have a chance like this, that's why he score so many goals.
And if you have so many chances, sometimes you miss them.

His passing isn't good enough for a LW. He never will be a good LW in our system, because we are not a counter team.

I agree. Laca’s must more of a rounded player than Auba and would fit into that left side better. Auba, however, is better at finding space and finishing so s should be up top. And you don’t need great pace to a w ide forward in pur system because we rarely have counters, so that shouldn’t mean Laca is limited too much there

 

[ksarp]

Doesn’t track back on the 11 side. Lacks intensity. The grumbling is getting louder. He contributes nothing other than scoring.

 

[progman07]

Just not good enough for a player of his calibre. That's probably 4 absolute sitters he's missed in just 2 games this season.

Anyone can have bad games, the real Auba will return for sure - we are not creating enough chances during the whole season, and we rode our luck with both Laca and Auba scoring a lot more often than a top striker does per chance.

Hopefully Emery finds him a better place though, because he is wasted in this system.

 

[Rain Dance]

Doesn’t track back on the 11 side. Lacks intensity. The grumbling is getting louder. He contributes nothing other than scoring.

ah the same excuse was applied for Arshavin.... some people doesn't like a goalscorer.

 

[The_Playmaker]

Auba only plays on the left when we don't have the ball. We move to a 4222 as soon as we get possession. The problem is that Emery is putting square pegs I round holes. Iwobi needs to play on the left or centre or not at all. Özil plays in the 10 or not at all and Auba plays up front or not at all.

We only have three players comfortable on the right. Miki, Ramsey and AMN. Miki is hit and miss, Ramsey doesn't want to play there and AMN isn't getting a look in.

Emery is also obsessed with playing a passer next to Torreira. Xhaka and Guendouzi are to error prone and don't offer enough defensively. Guendouzi is possitionally poor and can get rinsed in a 1v1.

Emery needs to trust in Torreira. He is good enough to control a game at the base of the midfield. He needs runners and dribbler next to him who can recover. Personally I'd like to see a diamond.

---------------Auba----------Laca

------------------------Özil

---------Iwobi---------------------AMN

----------------------Torreira

 

[Aevi]

---------------Auba----------Laca

------------------------Özil

---------Iwobi---------------------AMN

----------------------Torreira

The Iwobi/AMN CM duo is interesting considering they both have experience at both the wing and CM. Sounds cool on paper. I do wonder how much that midfield base would suffer from being young and a tad inexperienced though.

 

[Toby]

Auba only plays on the left when we don't have the ball. We move to a 4222 as soon as we get possession. The problem is that Emery is putting square pegs I round holes. Iwobi needs to play on the left or centre or not at all. Özil plays in the 10 or not at all and Auba plays up front or not at all.

Here we go, flash back Monday to the Wenger days. "Square pegs in round holes."

I definitely think we've seen some structural improvement to the team, but...we're seeing the exact same kind of critics Wenger had thrown at him. Wrong formation, no width, players in wrong positions. Just think it's funny that while Emery still gets credit as a good tactician, Wenger had no idea about tactics.

And btw, after 12 matches in 17/18 we had just 2 points less than now. We were sitting in 6th with 22 points, now it's 5th with 24.

We were on par with Liverpool, 1 point behind Tottenham, 3 behind Chelsea and 4 behind Utd in 2nd. This season we're already 3 behind Tottenham, 4 behind Chelsea and 6 behind Liverpool in 2nd.

We had conceded 16, now it's 15. What gave us those 2 points more has definitely been that run of efficiency in front of goal, with 26 this season in comparison to last season's 22.

In the big games against City, Chelsea and Liverpool we got 1/9 points. This season we were just a bit more clinical against smaller teams.

In terms of league performance that long winning streak has been kind of diverting, I feel. We didn't have that last season but we're still basically doing the same, we were even still closer to the teams right ahead of us in terms of points.

I don't like that the team seems to be reverting back to one of stale possession. Early Emery signings suggested he'd change that up, but yesterday wasn't just an off game, it was the same off game people were so adamant to criticize under Wenger - unfocused, horizontal, unconvincing, stale in possession. We've also seen the same kind of pushes for goals as we've seen yesterday and few other times this season under Wenger.

I still hold that the team actually has more structure than last season. But by now I would've expected a more intricate offensive play. There's no real plays in our game, Auba seems too isolated, Laca drops too deep, and with Özil and Xhaka in midfield there's not enough runners. Iwobi is still patchy as is Mkhi. We're still pressing opponents into their box and then try to unlock them, but there's not enough movement. I did like Emery's attacking four much more than this more traditional 4231 we're seeing since Özil has been back centrally.

This all looked a lot better a few weeks ago. Last good game I think was Leicester and that was on 22nd October, so almost a month and 5 or 6 games ago. I know this is a work in progress, and some stuff I've seen I like, and you can kind of see that there's more structure to it, but going into the post Christmas period there has to be a development to the offensive game. The work in progress statement shouldn't become an argument to defend no progress made. It's all fair and well to give the man time, at least until 2020, but looking at someone like Favre and seeing how fast he gets his stuff implemented makes me wary. If Emery can't get us over the line midterm (2 or 3 seasons) in terms of play style and league performance - meaning top 4 - "work in progress" and squad quality shouldn't stand as excuses anymore.

 

[m-due]

Here we go, flash back Monday to the Wenger days. "Square pegs in round holes."

I definitely think we've seen some structural improvement to the team, but...we're seeing the exact same kind of critics Wenger had thrown at him. Wrong formation, no width, players in wrong positions. Just think it's funny that while Emery still gets credit as a good tactician, Wenger had no idea about tactics.

And btw, after 12 matches in 17/18 we had just 2 points less than now. We were sitting in 6th with 22 points, now it's 5th with 24.

We were on par with Liverpool, 1 point behind Tottenham, 3 behind Chelsea and 4 behind Utd in 2nd. This season we're already 3 behind Tottenham, 4 behind Chelsea and 6 behind Liverpool in 2nd.

We had conceded 16, now it's 15. What gave us those 2 points more has definitely been that run of efficiency in front of goal, with 26 this season in comparison to last season's 22.

In the big games against City, Chelsea and Liverpool we got 1/9 points. This season we were just a bit more clinical against smaller teams.

In terms of league performance that long winning streak has been kind of diverting, I feel. We didn't have that last season but we're still basically doing the same, we were even still closer to the teams right ahead of us in terms of points.

I don't like that the team seems to be reverting back to one of stale possession. Early Emery signings suggested he'd change that up, but yesterday wasn't just an off game, it was the same off game people were so adamant to criticize under Wenger - unfocused, horizontal, unconvincing, stale in possession. We've also seen the same kind of pushes for goals as we've seen yesterday and few other times this season under Wenger.

I still hold that the team actually has more structure than last season. But by now I would've expected a more intricate offensive play. There's no real plays in our game, Auba seems too isolated, Laca drops too deep, and with Özil and Xhaka in midfield there's not enough runners. Iwobi is still patchy as is Mkhi. We're still pressing opponents into their box and then try to unlock them, but there's not enough movement. I did like Emery's attacking four much more than this more traditional 4231 we're seeing since Özil has been back centrally.

This all looked a lot better a few weeks ago. Last good game I think was Leicester and that was on 22nd October, so almost a month and 5 or 6 games ago. I know this is a work in progress, and some stuff I've seen I like, and you can kind of see that there's more structure to it, but going into the post Christmas period there has to be a development to the offensive game. The work in progress statement shouldn't become an argument to defend no progress made. It's all fair and well to give the man time, at least until 2020, but looking at someone like Favre and seeing how fast he gets his stuff implemented makes me wary. If Emery can't get us over the line midterm (2 or 3 seasons) in terms of play style and league performance - meaning top 4 - "work in progress" and squad quality shouldn't stand as excuses anymore.

Wise words right there. As Arsenal fans, we should afford Unai the same respect and patience as we did with Wenger. Different times of succession but the same expectations. We all hope that Unai take us to another level than Arsène’s latter years. After 12 games with Unai, the pundits and fans are only saying that Unai is more ruthless with his substitutions, a new lease of life for few players but the charge to the top is still the same albeit with different energy. This only shows that Unai is a wonderful manager just like Arsène was. Unai is proving himself and we are impressed by his work ethic. It’s up to the owners to give him the backing he needs with the transfer windows to make his mark. So far it’s a good start but if we use the same system of expecting miracle work from our manager then we shouldn’t aspire higher than what we have been achieving for the last decade.

 

[Beksl]

Here we go, flash back Monday to the Wenger days. "Square pegs in round holes."

I definitely think we've seen some structural improvement to the team, but...we're seeing the exact same kind of critics Wenger had thrown at him. Wrong formation, no width, players in wrong positions. Just think it's funny that while Emery still gets credit as a good tactician, Wenger had no idea about tactics.

And btw, after 12 matches in 17/18 we had just 2 points less than now. We were sitting in 6th with 22 points, now it's 5th with 24.

We were on par with Liverpool, 1 point behind Tottenham, 3 behind Chelsea and 4 behind Utd in 2nd. This season we're already 3 behind Tottenham, 4 behind Chelsea and 6 behind Liverpool in 2nd.

We had conceded 16, now it's 15. What gave us those 2 points more has definitely been that run of efficiency in front of goal, with 26 this season in comparison to last season's 22.

In the big games against City, Chelsea and Liverpool we got 1/9 points. This season we were just a bit more clinical against smaller teams.

In terms of league performance that long winning streak has been kind of diverting, I feel. We didn't have that last season but we're still basically doing the same, we were even still closer to the teams right ahead of us in terms of points.

I don't like that the team seems to be reverting back to one of stale possession. Early Emery signings suggested he'd change that up, but yesterday wasn't just an off game, it was the same off game people were so adamant to criticize under Wenger - unfocused, horizontal, unconvincing, stale in possession. We've also seen the same kind of pushes for goals as we've seen yesterday and few other times this season under Wenger.

I still hold that the team actually has more structure than last season. But by now I would've expected a more intricate offensive play. There's no real plays in our game, Auba seems too isolated, Laca drops too deep, and with Özil and Xhaka in midfield there's not enough runners. Iwobi is still patchy as is Mkhi. We're still pressing opponents into their box and then try to unlock them, but there's not enough movement. I did like Emery's attacking four much more than this more traditional 4231 we're seeing since Özil has been back centrally.

This all looked a lot better a few weeks ago. Last good game I think was Leicester and that was on 22nd October, so almost a month and 5 or 6 games ago. I know this is a work in progress, and some stuff I've seen I like, and you can kind of see that there's more structure to it, but going into the post Christmas period there has to be a development to the offensive game. The work in progress statement shouldn't become an argument to defend no progress made. It's all fair and well to give the man time, at least until 2020, but looking at someone like Favre and seeing how fast he gets his stuff implemented makes me wary. If Emery can't get us over the line midterm (2 or 3 seasons) in terms of play style and league performance - meaning top 4 - "work in progress" and squad quality shouldn't stand as excuses anymore.

Agree to an extent. Similarities with Wenger are to be expected as Emery is operating with almost the same personel. You can't just expect those players to change overnight, even with different tactics it's a process. What is encouraging is the fact that every player Emery brought in is quality, an added value to the team and a clear sign of direction and what we can expect in the future. The likes of Leno, Torreira and Douzi are ''Emery type'' players and they're all performing, which for me, is one of the highlights of the season so far. Emery clearly knows what he needs from a player to execute his plan(s), something that was lost on Wenger in his later years imo.

As for the bolded part, that's just not true for me. Liverpool game, even though it was a draw was a very good game from us.

 

[Toby]

Agree to an extent. Similarities with Wenger are to be expected as Emery is operating with almost the same personel. You can't just expect those players to change overnight, even with different tactics it's a process. What is encouraging is the fact that every player Emery brought in is quality, an added value to the team and a clear sign of direction and what we can expect in the future. The likes of Leno, Torreira and Douzi are ''Emery type'' players and they're all performing, which for me, is one of the highlights of the season so far. Emery clearly knows what he needs from a player to execute his plan(s), something that was lost on Wenger in his later years imo.

As for the bolded part, that's just not true for me. Liverpool game, even though it was a draw was a very good game from us.

You're right. Somehow forgot about the Liverpool game when writing that. That game is definitely one of the examples that give off the vibe of more structure and gameplan, which you can clearly see.

Also agree on the transfers. Don't know how much these are Emery players or Mislintat players or whatever and I don't like categorizing them as such, but that which positions needed strengthening were identified, fitting profiles were drawn up, quality was brought in and they are all performing suggests to me that the hierarchy overall - Emery, Mislintat, Sanllehi - knows what they're doing and they're working as a unit.

The squad is still the same, but so is the offensive game kind of. I really want to see improvement there and for me, same personnel only goes so far to explain the lack of plays, movement and coherency and by now, along the drop in efficiency in front of goal, it has me slightly worried.