Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: From Thriller To Bad, Should He Just Beat It?

[Breezy]

Last season he was still getting some decent chances. Not nearly enough but at least something he could work with. He also over performed his xG by a big margin, something which you can't rely on.

When we want to criticise Auba we have to understand what kind of player he is. You are basically criticising him for not playing well when he is basically asked to carry out a role that is so far removed from what he is elite at. If Auba is getting of shots and we are creating chances for him and he is still not scoring then we can blame him.

He has nearly 200 career goals, how many of those do you think he picked the ball up, dribble past a few player or scored from a long range? Not many. Of the 98 Bundesliga goals he got for Dortmund 97 were inside the box. He is the definition of a fox in the box. The penalty area is his hunting ground, he needs to operate close to it to be effective.

Knowing all of that we somehow have managed to design a system where it seems we minimise the amount of time he spends in there and also made it very hard for him to get any shots off. You know that if after 8 games a CB (Maguire) has more chances/shots than Auba something is fundamentally wrong with the tactics and it's time to change that system.

I’m criticising him mainly for a lack of effort and focus. Two things he showed in abundance on a consistent basis last season. His body language seems completely off. Just does not look the same motivated player. I suppose a loss of confidence and service could be a factor but for 300k+ a week he has to sort his attitude and form out and do it quickly because we need him firing on all cylinders or this is going to be another long arse season.

 

[14Henry]

Imagine you were sold a project at the end of last year and Arteta filled your head full of ideas that sounded good and you commit the last few years to the club.

Then you see that what Arteta sold you sounded much better than the real thing. Your a number 9 and being forced to run back chasing fullbacks, to hug the line and to cross the ball into the box. And then when you do get a chance its 20 yards out from an angle and fans are giving you **** for not scoring.

Vardy has crap hold up play. But Rodgers doesnt stick him out on the wing. Every man and their dog are saying put Auba as the central striker and play 2 create wingers/wide forwards around him. It's like all the times everyone said that Wenger needed to buy a DCM and he kept buying Rosicky/Cazorla type players.

I dont see how Mikels masterplan is so good that it cant work with

Saka Auba Pepe
Saka Auba Willian
Willian Auba Pepe

There you have creativity from both wings whether it's enough or not who knows and you have your lethal striker in and around the box.

If your a striker and your job is to score goals and your on the wing you cant be happy. Auba over performed last season. Everyone knows that. If Mikel persists with him playing as a winger what's going to happen is Auba is going to lose interest.

Put your best players in their best positions and adapt your tactics to what you've got. It's simple. Burnley dont stick Wood and Barnes out wide and ask them to beat a man. Liverpool dont pump 50 yards high balls into Firmino. Arteta seems like hes actually sucking the enjoyment out of these footballers and we all seen what happened when Emery did that.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Feel like pure **** just want Emery-ball back.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Feel like pure **** just want Emery-ball back.

This season video would be him trying to dribble past a player and getting dispossessed or losing control of the ball

Arteta out tbh.

 

[Trilly]

Feel like pure **** just want Emery-ball back.

I can't believe what el bleepo tiesto is doing to my striker. Real tears in my eyes.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

I can't believe what el bleepo tiesto is doing to my striker. Real tears in my eyes.

Thinking of starting up the Arteta out agenda.

 

[Trilly]

Thinking of starting up the Arteta out agenda.

Let's wait till Jan, I'll back you.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Let's wait till Jan, I'll back you.

I'm waiting until the Europa knock out rounds, another Olympiakos type result and it's on. I'll be out for blood.

But at the same time I did say that Arteta won't do better than Arsène or Emery with a similar squad and core players. Until we upgrade we won't improve on top of Arteta is playing so scared. It's only so long people can watch this football.

 

[Big Poppa]

If it was a straight swap, gain Van Persie but lose Auba, we would do a little better but probably not much (assuming Robin doesn't get his usual injury!) we would still have some holes in our attack for me...if Saka-Van Persie-Pepe could click though maybe, unsure it would though.

But Van Persie up top, with Auba on the left would be something...as Van Persie was excellent at dropping deep and dragging the defender away, leaving space for Walcott to run into...and Auba would love that coming in from the wing, plus Pierre is a smarter player than Theo so he would score buckets.

Why on earth would you not just play them as a front two? I can’t believe anyone here still thinks Aubameyang’s better as a winger than as a 9 with a reliable supply.

 

[Big Poppa]

How to ruin a striker? Play him as winger/wingback. Easy!

It’s also how to kill your own threat from the wing. Vision, passing and creativity should be prerequisites for a winger. It allows them to tuck in and link midfield and attack.

Auba on the wing weakens us substantially in not 1 but 2 positions.

 

[Riou]

Why on earth would you not just play them as a front two? I can’t believe anyone here still thinks Aubameyang’s better as a winger than as a 9 with a reliable supply.

Still feel if Auba is used correctly and has the right players around him, he could be very effective on the wing.

 

[Ash10]

He's still the best striker in the league but he isn’t being allowed to be that

 

[tap-in]

Two summers ago I was banging on about selling Laca (just been voted PotS) and buying Zaha. It was so clear we had a top CF but couldn't play him there due to no top left winger. Two managers later, £72m wasted on Pepe and we still need the same!

 

[Trilly]

Still feel if Auba is used correctly and has the right players around him, he could be very effective on the wing.

In the Salah-Mane or even Timo Werner at Leipzig mould there's no reason why it couldn't work. We're miles off though.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

I’m criticising him mainly for a lack of effort and focus. Two things he showed in abundance on a consistent basis last season. His body language seems completely off. Just does not look the same motivated player. I suppose a loss of confidence and service could be a factor but for 300k+ a week he has to sort his attitude and form out and do it quickly because we need him firing on all cylinders or this is going to be another long arse season.

Believe is the biggest motivator. For the first time in a while the players really seemed like they didn't believe in the system. Not just Auba, I saw quite a few dropped heads. You can buy into covering every blade of grass to get a result against a top team. Not sure you can motivate yourself to the same level if you have to keep sprinting from box to box to track El Ghazi, Douglas, Barkley etc. We were really playing like Villa was a team from a division above us in an FA cup.

I actually liked I could visibly see the frustration on Auba's face. He recently signed a massive contract, he can easily turn up for training, follow the manager's instructions on match day and not care about anything else. The fact he seems really annoyed and frustrated he isn't getting chances means he still cares about performing well, he wants to score, he wants to make a difference.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

Still feel if Auba is used correctly and has the right players around him, he could be very effective on the wing.

He can be. If we allowed him not to track back too often (like Salah, Mane etc), looked for him at every opportunity to get in. None of this going wide and trying to supply crosses for others.

 

[Manberg]

Believe is the biggest motivator. For the first time in a while the players really seemed like they didn't believe in the system. Not just Auba, I saw quite a few dropped heads. You can buy into covering every blade of grass to get a result against a top team. Not sure you can motivate yourself to the same level if you have to keep sprinting from box to box to track El Ghazi, Douglas, Barkley etc. We were really playing like Villa was a team from a division above us in an FA cup.

I actually liked I could visibly see the frustration on Auba's face. He recently signed a massive contract, he can easily turn up for training, follow the manager's instructions on match day and not care about anything else. The fact he seems really annoyed and frustrated he isn't getting chances means he still cares about performing well, he wants to score, he wants to make a difference.

Every player has to defend, including strikers. Liverpool’s strikers do the same level of tracking back and running off the ball, no matter the opposition. I don’t recall people complaining about forwards doing their defensive duties then.

 

[Manberg]

He can be. If we allowed him not to track back too often (like Salah, Mane etc), looked for him at every opportunity to get in. None of this going wide and trying to supply crosses for others.

I don’t think you watch them very much. If Salah and Mane don’t track back Klopp yells at them.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

I don’t think you watch them very much. If Salah and Mane don’t track back Klopp yells at them.

I said not as much. They do track but not as deep as Auba has to. Haven't for example seen Salah well inside his penalty box often whereas for Auba I have. A lot of the times you actually see Liverpool defending but both Salah and Mane while dropping back a bit, still keep a position further a field ready to counter teams.

 

[Manberg]

I said not as much. They do track but not as deep as Auba has to. Haven't for example seen Salah well inside his penalty box often whereas for Auba I have. A lot of the times you actually see Liverpool defending but both Salah and Mane while dropping back a bit, still keep a position further a field ready to counter teams.

It’s by design; we play deeper, they play a lot higher up. Result of that is there’s more running for our strikers to do, closer to our box. But the expectation to defend remains the same.