Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

[jayramfootball]

Smells like Jayram was right.

No he wasn't.

He said we should sell a 20 goal a season scorer .......... with no replacement.

That was the issue that was raised, if you recall at the time this was the window when we had no money and the only decent buy we made was Partey who even with a buy out clause it took us till deadline day to activate it because Arteta and co had to beg Stan to give them some money.

........... as I stated at the time, sell Auba, fine, where do we find the £80m to replace a Golden boot winner when we have no budget and we'll get pennies for Auba because his contract had run down and he's what 32 at the time?

So the prediction of Auba tanking was not what the issue was, it was who was going to replace him.

Yeah, I was right. For now. Auba would need to have a wonder season this year to change that...25-30 PL goals.
No pointing trying to deny it.
I know it was a major argument and it's hard for some to accept, but there it is.
I'll tell you now, the same is going to happen with the Arteta is a clown argument raging right now.

I am still hopeful that Auba can get his finger out and do something over the next two seasons, BUT it's only a hope.
Unfortunately, next summer he's into his last year again and will be looking for another payday.
If we don't give it to him, he'll just drift for his final year and sign up for some cash in the US league or China.

[jayramfootball]

EK .............

We're on about back when he renewed his contract, he was a 20 goal a season striker, he'd just come off 2 seasons back to back 20+.

We're not on about now.

But isn't that the issue being repeated over and over - you can carry one 30+ striker and hope he retains his 20 goal a season ability - but you can't carry three and you have to expect any older player to drop off - age catches up with everyone.

Forget the names players come and go, it's the recruitment strategy that's flawed, where are the 25 year old strikers who can sign a five year deal and step-up when the old guys legs go? When did we last sign one of those? Pepe 80m, Wellbeck 20m can't think of many more ...

Yet our rivals all sign that type of player - we have to have a succession plan within our squad - we just seem to reach the end of a player's career or their contract and then panic, only then do we start looking for their replacement. That means we sell low and buy high, it's a sad joke.

That was the main point in my argument
You don't give a 31year old 350k a week.
I also pointed out that 20 goals is not some superb number that is really hard to replace. It isn't.
Auba's goal return was good. It was never great. It didn't need an 80m solution.
Spoke a lot about the wider team stepping up and scoring more goals if Auba was not there - that also happened. He dropped off but the team scored about the same amount of goals.

It doesn't really matter now, in all honestly. Who was right or wrong makes no difference.
We need Auba to start playing better - a lot better.

[DiamondGooner]

Smells like Jayram was right.

No he wasn't.

He said we should sell a 20 goal a season scorer .......... with no replacement.

That was the issue that was raised, if you recall at the time this was the window when we had no money and the only decent buy we made was Partey who even with a buy out clause it took us till deadline day to activate it because Arteta and co had to beg Stan to give them some money.

........... as I stated at the time, sell Auba, fine, where do we find the £80m to replace a Golden boot winner when we have no budget and we'll get pennies for Auba because his contract had run down and he's what 32 at the time?

So the prediction of Auba tanking was not what the issue was, it was who was going to replace him.

Yeah, I was right. For now. Auba would need to have a wonder season this year to change that...25-30 PL goals.
No pointing trying to deny it.
I know it was a major argument and it's hard for some to accept, but there it is.
I'll tell you now, the same is going to happen with the Arteta is a clown argument raging right now.

I am still hopeful that Auba can get his finger out and do something over the next two seasons, BUT it's only a hope.
Unfortunately, next summer he's into his last year again and will be looking for another payday.
If we don't give it to him, he'll just drift for his final year and sign up for some cash in the US league or China.

No you weren't.

I could go dig up the posts, I remember clearly stating to you that if we sold Auba ............ who would we buy with no funds?

You then said use money from the Auba sale and I replied, what money, he's 32 and has less than 12 months left on his contract, we'd get like £20m if we were lucky, not enough to replace him.

£20m doesn't even get Tammy Abraham who's up for £40m.

All that's happened is the extension hasn't panned out, fair enough, but that still doesn't answer of where we'd of got £60m+ from in that window, the window where we bought no one of good value until Partey on deadline day because we'd bought no one and Arteta and Edu had to beg Stan.

As for the notion of giving 30+ year old players big final contracts, yes, I've seen enough examples in the last 2 years to say never again imo.

[jayramfootball]

Smells like Jayram was right.

No he wasn't.

He said we should sell a 20 goal a season scorer .......... with no replacement.

That was the issue that was raised, if you recall at the time this was the window when we had no money and the only decent buy we made was Partey who even with a buy out clause it took us till deadline day to activate it because Arteta and co had to beg Stan to give them some money.

........... as I stated at the time, sell Auba, fine, where do we find the £80m to replace a Golden boot winner when we have no budget and we'll get pennies for Auba because his contract had run down and he's what 32 at the time?

So the prediction of Auba tanking was not what the issue was, it was who was going to replace him.

Yeah, I was right. For now. Auba would need to have a wonder season this year to change that...25-30 PL goals.
No pointing trying to deny it.
I know it was a major argument and it's hard for some to accept, but there it is.
I'll tell you now, the same is going to happen with the Arteta is a clown argument raging right now.

I am still hopeful that Auba can get his finger out and do something over the next two seasons, BUT it's only a hope.
Unfortunately, next summer he's into his last year again and will be looking for another payday.
If we don't give it to him, he'll just drift for his final year and sign up for some cash in the US league or China.

No you weren't.

I could go dig up the posts, I remember clearly stating to you that if we sold Auba ............ who would we buy with no funds?

You then said use money from the Auba sale and I replied, what money, he's 32 and has less than 12 months left on his contract, we'd get like £20m if we were lucky, not enough to replace him.

£20m doesn't even get Tammy Abraham who's up for £40m.

All that's happened is the extension hasn't panned out, fair enough, but that still doesn't answer of where we'd of got £60m+ from in that window, the window where we bought no one of good value until Partey on deadline day because we'd bought no one and Arteta and Edu had to beg Stan.

As for the notion of giving 30+ year old players big final contracts, yes, I've seen enough examples in the last 2 years to say never again imo.

Turns out we didn't need to replace Auba and even if we did, 20m would have been plenty.
A 10 goal striker is not hard to find.
I also remember stating that we'd make up for his goals with other players stepping up.
That happened.

So the replacement money turned out not to be an issue at all.
I do, however, agree I was certainly wrong on some examples of who we should replace him with... Werner for example (ouch), but the basis of the argument at the time was around whether we should offer the guy a huge contract.
After that there were several threads of discussion in a gigantic pile on to me for daring to suggest that he wasn't worth a new contract.

But on the basic argument?
I said no.
I was right.

As I said - not that it matters.
I also recall saying I hoped I was wrong.
I still hope that he has such a brilliant last 2 seasons for us that I can say I was wrong.

[DiamondGooner]

I would say the one thing AFC should of learned from Ozil, Auba and Willian is a no to all of it.

No more bumper contracts for anyone playing for their last contract, we all know the story by now, play lights out for one season then sit back and sip cocktails not bothered to bust a gut.

I say that even with Auba and Ozil being two of our better players in their time here, but no more Golden parachutes, its not worth it.

Hence why I don't want us to give Laca one, we've seen Laca in his prime and it was barely good enough goal tally wise, why in the hell would we offer him a massive 3 year contract?

Tbf I've gotten to the point where I favor a complete clear out and just keep the younger players.

Martinelli, Saka, ESR, Partey, Lokonga, Tavares, White, Gabriel, Balogun, Willock, Tierney.

As far as I'm concerned the rest can fk off, all our "biggest players" Leno, Bellerin, Xhaka, Laca, Auba and even Pepe.

Auba and Pepe I still hold out a bit of hope because of their shooting ability but all in all our seniors are a bunch of overpaid w*nk stains.

They've embarrassed this club and they act like they're coasting every game, I don't want them infecting our youth with their sht attitude.

[Angelito]

Player will never be hungry if the club isn’t hungry. The club has to show ambition for the player to work his socks off. In the case of Arsenal, the ambitious players leave because they know it’s pointless.

Profound.

That's the reason why organizations pay their leaders enormous salaries. So that they could lead by example.

It happens everywhere. If I get a whiff that my supervisor doesn't have a clue, I won't come out against him or her. But I will find a way to maneuver accordingly.

I'm sure many peeps here have worked with idiots. An idiot who's so sure of himself/herself is even more dangerous, especially in powerful positions. You put a genius in a team of clowns, that team will drag the genius down. It's common-sense. It's reality.

At Arsenal, every player knows that Arteta isn't getting sacked no matter the result unlike a Chelsea, where players are aware that the manger's job is always at stake.

One thing that I find uncanny these days, especially this summer, is Arsenal's website publishing tactical pieces/analyses on how a new player would settle, or how they'd function in Arteta's sophisticated system. Did it ever happen under Wenger? Do other clubs do the same? Well, at least, I don't remember Arsenal staff positing such material in prior years. That—accompanied by Arsenal players singing praises of Arteta, the tactician—does make me wonder.

The Americanized PR-driven agenda isn't surprising considering who we have as owners. But the way players come out and eulogize our Mikel Arteta, it reeks of an aggressive PR campaign.

To be fair, either Arteta is indeed an elite-tier personal coach who excels in one-to-one coaching, or he's someone who simply is amazing at improving individual players, helping them—over managing a squad and the club in its entirety.

It's intriguing nonetheless.

Regardless, there's a lot of talk going on between agents, players, and executives of other clubs about Arsenal these days. And, it's not positive.

On Auba, he's a professional and a passionate football player. He's not deliberately coasting because he earns a bomb now. Either he's lost his abilities, or the team isn't functioning to get the best out of him.

[DiamondGooner]

Its true.

Liverpool wouldn't be Liverpool without Klopp and Chelsea wouldn't have won the CL if Lampard was still in charge instead of Tuchel.

We missed out on both of them holding on to managers when it wasn't going anywhere because Stan doesn't know what he's doing, he bought us as a investment and has left us in the hands of care takers who aren't footballing men, Vinai ffs, he can do your taxes but what does he know about football?

Klopp set the standard at Liverpool, I remember reading how shocked Oxlaide was when he arrived at Liverpool about how hard they train and the level Klopp demanded .......... Alex Fergusson, hardly someone you could be a slacker with.

AFC has been rotting for years, all the AFC staff run around our players treating them like gods.

[jayramfootball]

Player will never be hungry if the club isn’t hungry. The club has to show ambition for the player to work his socks off. In the case of Arsenal, the ambitious players leave because they know it’s pointless.

Profound.

That's the reason why organizations pay their leaders enormous salaries. So that they could lead by example.

It happens everywhere. If I get a whiff that my supervisor doesn't have a clue, I won't come out against him or her. But I will find a way to maneuver accordingly.

I'm sure many peeps here have worked with idiots. An idiot who's so sure of himself/herself is even more dangerous, especially in powerful positions. You put a genius in a team of clowns, that team will drag the genius down. It's common-sense. It's reality.

At Arsenal, every player knows that Arteta isn't getting sacked no matter the result unlike a Chelsea, where players are aware that the manger's job is always at stake.

One thing that I find uncanny these days, especially this summer, is Arsenal's website publishing tactical pieces/analyses on how a new player would settle, or how they'd function in Arteta's sophisticated system. Did it ever happen under Wenger? Do other clubs do the same? Well, at least, I don't remember Arsenal staff positing such material in prior years. That—accompanied by Arsenal players singing praises of Arteta, the tactician—does make me wonder.

The Americanized PR-driven agenda isn't surprising considering who we have as owners. But the way players come out and eulogize our Mikel Arteta, it reeks of an aggressive PR campaign.

To be fair, either Arteta is indeed an elite-tier personal coach who excels in one-to-one coaching, or he's someone who simply is amazing at improving individual players, helping them—over managing a squad and the club in its entirety.

It's intriguing nonetheless.

Regardless, there's a lot of talk going on between agents, players, and executives of other clubs about Arsenal these days. And, it's not positive.

On Auba, he's a professional and a passionate football player. He's not deliberately coasting because he earns a bomb now. Either he's lost his abilities, or the team isn't functioning to get the best out of him.

It's ironic you cite Arsenal PR.
The PR Auba spun in the run up to his contract was about as blatant as it gets. Even egg timers on his Twitter feed. Then that video. Yuck. Arsenal legend.... That's what he said he wanted to be.

Don't tell me he's not performing because the club are not ambitious. That's a huge cop out. Auba talked the talk. He didn't walk the walk. It's up to him to perform not sit back because he thinks the club are not ambitious. If he thought that he should have left, not take 350k a week and then put in that shit show if a performance through the season.

There are only two options here.
Auba just got old and can't do it any more or he's coasting after getting his pay day.

We're in a position now that we can only hope it's the latter and something happens fur him to want to get his finger out.

[theHotHead]

I still think Auba will be absolutely fine with decent players and a decent manager, Auba is the least of our worries. When I see headlines that say Xhaka is being given a new contract, I am certain Auba is far from being our biggest problem !

[Angelito]

Player will never be hungry if the club isn’t hungry. The club has to show ambition for the player to work his socks off. In the case of Arsenal, the ambitious players leave because they know it’s pointless.

Profound.

That's the reason why organizations pay their leaders enormous salaries. So that they could lead by example.

It happens everywhere. If I get a whiff that my supervisor doesn't have a clue, I won't come out against him or her. But I will find a way to maneuver accordingly.

I'm sure many peeps here have worked with idiots. An idiot who's so sure of himself/herself is even more dangerous, especially in powerful positions. You put a genius in a team of clowns, that team will drag the genius down. It's common-sense. It's reality.

At Arsenal, every player knows that Arteta isn't getting sacked no matter the result unlike a Chelsea, where players are aware that the manger's job is always at stake.

One thing that I find uncanny these days, especially this summer, is Arsenal's website publishing tactical pieces/analyses on how a new player would settle, or how they'd function in Arteta's sophisticated system. Did it ever happen under Wenger? Do other clubs do the same? Well, at least, I don't remember Arsenal staff positing such material in prior years. That—accompanied by Arsenal players singing praises of Arteta, the tactician—does make me wonder.

The Americanized PR-driven agenda isn't surprising considering who we have as owners. But the way players come out and eulogize our Mikel Arteta, it reeks of an aggressive PR campaign.

To be fair, either Arteta is indeed an elite-tier personal coach who excels in one-to-one coaching, or he's someone who simply is amazing at improving individual players, helping them—over managing a squad and the club in its entirety.

It's intriguing nonetheless.

Regardless, there's a lot of talk going on between agents, players, and executives of other clubs about Arsenal these days. And, it's not positive.

On Auba, he's a professional and a passionate football player. He's not deliberately coasting because he earns a bomb now. Either he's lost his abilities, or the team isn't functioning to get the best out of him.

It's ironic you cite Arsenal PR.
The PR Auba spun in the run up to his contract was about as blatant as it gets. Even egg timers on his Twitter feed. Then that video. Yuck. Arsenal legend.... That's what he said he wanted to be.

Don't tell me he's not performing because the club are not ambitious. That's a huge cop out. Auba talked the talk. He didn't walk the walk. It's up to him to perform not sit back because he thinks the club are not ambitious. If he thought that he should have left, not take 350k a week and then put in that shit show if a performance through the season.

There are only two options here.
Auba just got old and can't do it any more or he's coasting after getting his pay day.

We're in a position now that we can only hope it's the latter and something happens fur him to want to get his finger out.

Not sure what you're arguing about.

This is what I stated about Auba:

On Auba, he's a professional and a passionate football player. He's not deliberately coasting because he earns a bomb now. Either he's lost his abilities, or the team isn't functioning to get the best out of him.

It's what you posted in your penultimate paragraph.

[Ach]

I still think Auba will be absolutely fine with decent players and a decent manager, Auba is the least of our worries. When I see headlines that say Xhaka is being given a new contract, I am certain Auba is far from being our biggest problem !

Yup

Not worried about him. He can perform as he's shown. Needs a team which plays attacking though

[jayramfootball]

Player will never be hungry if the club isn’t hungry. The club has to show ambition for the player to work his socks off. In the case of Arsenal, the ambitious players leave because they know it’s pointless.

Profound.

That's the reason why organizations pay their leaders enormous salaries. So that they could lead by example.

It happens everywhere. If I get a whiff that my supervisor doesn't have a clue, I won't come out against him or her. But I will find a way to maneuver accordingly.

I'm sure many peeps here have worked with idiots. An idiot who's so sure of himself/herself is even more dangerous, especially in powerful positions. You put a genius in a team of clowns, that team will drag the genius down. It's common-sense. It's reality.

At Arsenal, every player knows that Arteta isn't getting sacked no matter the result unlike a Chelsea, where players are aware that the manger's job is always at stake.

One thing that I find uncanny these days, especially this summer, is Arsenal's website publishing tactical pieces/analyses on how a new player would settle, or how they'd function in Arteta's sophisticated system. Did it ever happen under Wenger? Do other clubs do the same? Well, at least, I don't remember Arsenal staff positing such material in prior years. That—accompanied by Arsenal players singing praises of Arteta, the tactician—does make me wonder.

The Americanized PR-driven agenda isn't surprising considering who we have as owners. But the way players come out and eulogize our Mikel Arteta, it reeks of an aggressive PR campaign.

To be fair, either Arteta is indeed an elite-tier personal coach who excels in one-to-one coaching, or he's someone who simply is amazing at improving individual players, helping them—over managing a squad and the club in its entirety.

It's intriguing nonetheless.

Regardless, there's a lot of talk going on between agents, players, and executives of other clubs about Arsenal these days. And, it's not positive.

On Auba, he's a professional and a passionate football player. He's not deliberately coasting because he earns a bomb now. Either he's lost his abilities, or the team isn't functioning to get the best out of him.

It's ironic you cite Arsenal PR.
The PR Auba spun in the run up to his contract was about as blatant as it gets. Even egg timers on his Twitter feed. Then that video. Yuck. Arsenal legend.... That's what he said he wanted to be.

Don't tell me he's not performing because the club are not ambitious. That's a huge cop out. Auba talked the talk. He didn't walk the walk. It's up to him to perform not sit back because he thinks the club are not ambitious. If he thought that he should have left, not take 350k a week and then put in that shit show if a performance through the season.

There are only two options here.
Auba just got old and can't do it any more or he's coasting after getting his pay day.

We're in a position now that we can only hope it's the latter and something happens fur him to want to get his finger out.

Not sure what you're arguing about.

This is what I stated about Auba:

On Auba, he's a professional and a passionate football player. He's not deliberately coasting because he earns a bomb now. Either he's lost his abilities, or the team isn't functioning to get the best out of him.

It's what you posted in your penultimate paragraph.

Not the same, if you re-read what I wrote.

There are only two options here.
Auba just got old and can't do it any more or he's coasting after getting his pay day.

There's no issue with the team playing to get the most out of him.
Same team same manager before his slump. In fact, worse, because in Arteta's first half of a season the creativity took a nose dive as the defence was corrected.

Auba's poor form is all on Auba and I genuinely hope it's not his age catching up with him.
I'd prefer it to be his attitude which can at least be changed.

Whatever the issue with Auba I think we can all agree he needs to do a whole lot better this year.
The hope I am clinging to right now is that in pre-season he was at least making the movements to open up chances for himself. He was just finishing poorly.

[Angelito]

^

You're fishing in a swimming pool and wondering why you can't catch a fish.

Nobody has any issue with Auba. Either he goes back to being the elite goal-scorer he was, or we accept that he's past his prime. If he still has it, you can only point at the team setup, or his personal issues from last season. It's not complex.

These illogical arguments are fine for the sake of having arguments. But they're pointless and do not resolve anything. It's mere personal gratification atm. You can limit that to those willing to humor you.

[DiamondGooner]

I still think Auba will be absolutely fine with decent players and a decent manager, Auba is the least of our worries. When I see headlines that say Xhaka is being given a new contract, I am certain Auba is far from being our biggest problem !

Yup

Not worried about him. He can perform as he's shown. Needs a team which plays attacking though

My worry is though if he doesn't improve from last season, I have faith in him also, but its concerning that we're coming into this season and he still looks to be in the same run of form as how he finished last year.

Tbf that concern for me is about the whole front line, they're just not geling and its a massive concern, is Laca going to be here? is Pepe going to become consistent for once, is Auba going to get his shooting boots back on?

Lots of issues here.

[jayramfootball]

^

You're fishing in a swimming pool and wondering why you can't catch a fish.

Nobody has any issue with Auba. Either he goes back to being the elite goal-scorer he was, or we accept that he's past his prime. If he still has it, you can only point at the team setup, or his personal issues from last season. It's not complex.

These illogical arguments are fine for the sake of having arguments. But they're pointless and do not resolve anything. It's mere personal gratification atm. You can limit that to those willing to humor you.

If he still has it, you can only point at the team setup, or his personal issues from last season. It's not complex.

If he still has it I can point to the more likely reason for his poor form as being the player not putting the effort in because he's happy with his last big paycheque from the club. That's a bit more logical than blaming other players.

Why would I 'only' be able to point to the team set-up being the issue?
The same team set up where he was previously scoring goals?