Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Black Panther

[Toby]

He can't seem to play without Laca recently. He's missing easy chances and we need to create more for him. If Emery won't play him and Laca from the start, then Laca should start.

Laca is clearly creating space for him and taking defenders off his back. It feels similar to the Lewandowski/Muller partnership at Bayern: Although the latter is in horrible form, the former is clearly better when Muller occupies defenders for him by basically just being there.

At Dortmund Auba was playing a lone 9, but he had decidedly more dangerous attacking players who were driving at goal themselves behind him, which got defenders off his back. In this slow moving, ball shifting and toothless Arsenal he's under constant surveillance by defenders. It's bogus to play him that way; if it's only one striker for now then it should be Laca the way this team is playing right now. But the way to go should actually be to have both on the pitch and get us to play faster, more direct and more penetrative football.

 

[ksarp]

Laca is clearly creating space for him and taking defenders off his back. It feels similar to the Lewandowski/Muller partnership at Bayern: Although the latter is in horrible form, the former is clearly better when Muller occupies defenders for him by basically just being there.

At Dortmund Auba was playing a lone 9, but he had decidedly more dangerous attacking players who were driving at goal themselves behind him, which got defenders off his back. In this slow moving, ball shifting and toothless Arsenal he's under constant surveillance by defenders. It's bogus to play him that way; if it's only one striker for now then it should be Laca the way this team is playing right now. But the way to go should actually be to have both on the pitch and get us to play faster, more direct and more penetrative football.

Apparently Emre is the only one who believes Aubameyang is a 9. This is Sanchez all over again. He is wasteful, can’t press, and can’t hold, papers his huge deficiencies with goals. The misses are getting costly starting with Huddersfield....But by all means, let the masses froth at the mouth at the sight of goal statistics. I ain’t buying none of it.

 

[Toby]

Apparently Emre is the only one who believes Aubameyang is a 9. This is Sanchez all over again. He is wasteful, can’t press, and can’t hold, papers his huge deficiencies with goals. The misses are getting costly starting with Huddersfield....But by all means, let the masses froth at the mouth at the sight of goal statistics. I ain’t buying none of it.

Auba can operate as a lone 9 very well, it just depends on system played. He has shown that at Dortmund. Most lone strikers will suffer in an uncohesive attack with very few other goal threats around attacking the box. Lewandowski has been on a downward trajectory for a while now, but he's a pretty good example of what happens to even the best 9s when the goal threat from other players drops off significantly and there's not enough of a presence in the box next to them.

While I don't see him as limited as you do, e.g. I think he's able to work in a press and is rather not wasteful usually, I agree he has a certain profile that makes him less of a fit for a team with extremely slow build up and almost no movement up top from the attacking players. Lacazette would be a better choice in terms of how the team plays right now as his link up, hold up and general involvement are better.

Then add to that Emery recently only fielding three attackers in his 3421 and everyone else in there having more structured jobs (he loves his two 6s to sit deep; the wingbacks have to hold width) and two of the three players used as attackers being out of form and you get a pretty good idea why Auba is struggling and why the team looks ****. We generally don't play to his strength, there's no one to take defenders off his back and create space, and the team is stuttering offensively - it's okay to get the ball into the opposition half slowly, but close to the box you need plays to up the tempo again and create or force moments and the team hasn't been able to do that.

 

[Mark Tobias]

Auba can operate as a lone 9 very well, it just depends on system played. He has shown that at Dortmund. Most lone strikers will suffer in an uncohesive attack with very few other goal threats around attacking the box. Lewandowski has been on a downward trajectory for a while now, but he's a pretty good example of what happens to even the best 9s when the goal threat from other players drops off significantly and there's not enough of a presence in the box next to them.

While I don't see him as limited as you do, e.g. I think he's able to work in a press and is rather not wasteful usually, I agree he has a certain profile that makes him less of a fit for a team with extremely slow build up and almost no movement up top from the attacking players. Lacazette would be a better choice in terms of how the team plays right now as his link up, hold up and general involvement are better.

Then add to that Emery recently only fielding three attackers in his 3421 and everyone else in there having more structured jobs (he loves his two 6s to sit deep; the wingbacks have to hold width) and two of the three players used as attackers being out of form and you get a pretty good idea why Auba is struggling and why the team looks ****. We generally don't play to his strength, there's no one to take defenders off his back and create space, and the team is stuttering offensively - it's okay to get the ball into the opposition half slowly, but close to the box you need plays to up the tempo again and create or force moments and the team hasn't been able to do that.

Great post but have to point out that perhaps this is why Emery is struggling in your eyes? As other posters have also mentioned, we still have an unbalanced squad. Finding the best starting XI has not been a walk in the park. Insightful post though and hopefully Emery sees what you've explained here within his tactics.

 

[Toby]

Great post but have to point out that perhaps this is why Emery is struggling in your eyes? As other posters have also mentioned, we still have an unbalanced squad. Finding the best starting XI has not been a walk in the park. Insightful post though and hopefully Emery sees what you've explained here within his tactics.

It definitely is a reason, yes. But where some say that unbalanced squad is the root for all the team's shortcomings, I think it's one of a few, but actually something a manager can have a go at by giving the team a tactial corset and players specific roles.

That the squad was and is unbalanced is actually something that's of more weight when criticizing Wenger, I believe. His approach of players expressing themselves and basically finding their own roles within especially the offense is much more prone to being harmed by an unbalanced squad of less quality than his best Arsenal teams - especially considering he was the one building the squads, even if under financial constraints.

Emery has come across or been described as someone with a more modern, more systematic and hands on approach, so I actually expected him to find a use for the players at hand when installing a new system at Arsenal. Cause it's definitely not the case that most players are only able to do one thing or play one role. Staying with Auba is probably a good example: We've seen him used as something of a goalscoring, direct right winger at Saint Etienne and in his first days at Dortmund after he had somewhat failed as a CF before that. Klopp then brought him back into the centre where he excelled for the reasons I stated in the other post. Tuchel then reverted back to occasionally using him on the right side again, but now that he was a fully blooded striker his role was different than to his earlier stints at RW; he was now more of a shadow striker similar to Thomas Muller at Bayern on that right side. Wenger and also Emery have reverted back to that same use of him, only on the left. So this is a pretty good example of one player being able to succesfully play two roles - the factor deciding about his success being the overall system and style of play. A guy whose play is centred around individual pace, pace in the final third and finding space created by his attacking teammates will of course struggle with the way we have been playing recently.

In terms of finding the best tarting XI I'd find out the most glaring weaknesses and go look for their roots and the best stuff about the team. I actually thought that was the road Emery was going down, including finding mostly fitting roles for players at hand, but he's been tinkering a lot and ripping upthings that worked, which is something that I don't understand.

For positives for example there's the Torreira - Xhaka double pivot and the Auba - Laca partnership up front. For negatives there's the lack of goalthreat from the attacking midfielders and too isolated strikers. So just identifying these things very pragmatically and then build on that.

Although over the last weeks there's more to it which makes it kind of hard for me to fathom what exactly Emery is trying to do, what he prefers or what he sees as problems. Like I think @NieThePiet said: He pushed Özil out wide cause he wanted an energetic 10 in Ramsey. Then he reverted back to a more technical 10 with Özil. Now it' nothing of both. Both players certainly have the quality to help the team right now during these weeks, even if their future is in doubt for various reasons. But I think you wouldn't find to many managers out there who not only operate like they cannot make use of one of them, but even act like they think both are useless.

Then the persistence with Mkhitaryan and Iwobi who are both massively out of form. If he doesn't want to play Özil or Ramsey: Ok. But we've seen promising performances from young attacking talents like Smith-Rowe or Willock who could definitely get a shot with how bad Mkhi and Iwobi have been recently. And that gets more baffling as it can't be about youth, as Emery persists with fielding a 19 year old in central midfield.

But this veers too much off of the Auba theme. I think using Auba on the left again with Laca in the centre, so these two can work off each other again will help Auba's form. Furthermore Laca deserves to start. I would definitely stick in Ramsey in an attacking role as provides movement and threat in and around the opposition box - even when he doesn't score he's someone they have to watch which in turn allows Auba and Laca to do more of their stuff.

 

[ksarp]

Auba can operate as a lone 9 very well, it just depends on system played. He has shown that at Dortmund. Most lone strikers will suffer in an uncohesive attack with very few other goal threats around attacking the box. Lewandowski has been on a downward trajectory for a while now, but he's a pretty good example of what happens to even the best 9s when the goal threat from other players drops off significantly and there's not enough of a presence in the box next to them..

He very well might have been effective at the 9 in Germany, but it's pretty clear to me he lacks that merit in the EPL. A 9 has to be able to hold, and he simply can't hold. Lewa..was never impressed with his work for the Polish national team, perhaps he's more of a beneficiary of a Bayern system?

While I don't see him as limited as you do, e.g. I think he's able to work in a press and is rather not wasteful usually, I agree he has a certain profile that makes him less of a fit for a team with extremely slow build up and almost no movement up top from the attacking players. Lacazette would be a better choice in terms of how the team plays right now as his link up, hold up and general involvement are better.

I'll concede that he could possibly press better as a trio for example, but I still think it doesn't come naturally to him like Lacca.

Then add to that Emery recently only fielding three attackers in his 3421 and everyone else in there having more structured jobs (he loves his two 6s to sit deep; the wingbacks have to hold width) and two of the three players used as attackers being out of form and you get a pretty good idea why Auba is struggling and why the team looks ****. We generally don't play to his strength, there's no one to take defenders off his back and create space, and the team is stuttering offensively - it's okay to get the ball into the opposition half slowly, but close to the box you need plays to up the tempo again and create or force moments and the team hasn't been able to do that.

I really thought the "slow motion offense" had died with Wenger leaving but I was wrong. Maitland Niles is particularly guilty of this lack of urgency in offensive transition.

 

[Toby]

A 9 has to be able to hold, and he simply can't hold.

That completely hinges on the system you're playing and I explained that in quite some detail in an earlier post.

As for Lewa: I hate the guy but I have to admit at his heights he's been one of the best CFs around. Sure he builds on the Bayern's quality, but he's very good himself. He's been underwhelming for his NT, I agree, but I think that's cause he's a **** who doesn't care about his NT cause he knows he won't win anything with them. He has got a big ego and not a great mentality.

I really thought the "slow motion offense" had died with Wenger leaving but I was wrong. Maitland Niles is particularly guilty of this lack of urgency in offensive transition.

When I first saw this Emery Arsenal at the beginning of the season, I had high hopes, too. But by now it's more of the same. We're especially still lacking urgent movement up top to create diversions, space and force errors.

 

[Gunner140]

Auba will do more, but I think that he needs Laca for him to get a bit more space on the pitch. If he is alone, than everyone is focused on him alone, but if there is Laca, he can get in better positions to score.

 

[Giroud12]

Apparently Emre is the only one who believes Aubameyang is a 9. This is Sanchez all over again. He is wasteful, can’t press, and can’t hold, papers his huge deficiencies with goals. The misses are getting costly starting with Huddersfield....But by all means, let the masses froth at the mouth at the sight of goal statistics. I ain’t buying none of it.

A striker papering over the cracks with goals? Thats his job for gods sake. As long as he´s top scorer in the league, his misses doesn´t really matter.

 

[Mark Tobias]

A striker papering over the cracks with goals? Thats his job for gods sake. As long as he´s top scorer in the league, his misses doesn´t really matter.

Um, actually that is bollocks. He may be top scorer but we are not top of the league and while we are not his misses are costly. Particularly when they are clear cut chances and we're not getting all 3 points.

 

[Beast Incarnate]

He does miss an awful lot of chances. He's just not clinical enough.

 

[ksarp]

If he could increase his conversion rate for those chances...

 

[MaraDon]

Elite.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Absolute goal machine. Long may it continue.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Our best striker!

 

[Sniper Mik]

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

I wasn't wrong when i said he going to finish betweeb 25-30 goals in the league. Elite finisher

 

[juice man]

People keep questioning him, but the guy just keeps putting the ball in the net. Keep it going lad.

 

[krengon]

30 goal season is definitely possible.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Our best striker!

The Premier League's best striker.