Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

[theHotHead]

Play him up top for 5-10 games straight, if he can't do well there drop him.

He looks a fish out of water outwide

You have to be really special to not understand this. Can't entertain it.

You just know it's a bias against Auba when people can see that Nketiah has no business playing wide and Willian shouldn't be playing as the false 9 but expect Auba to deliver consistently when playing on the wing.

But ultimately this comes back to the manager and as said on the Arseblog podcast, it's more of worry if Arteta sees Lacazette's performances as the ideal for that central striker role. That idea extends to the front line attackers in general and also the midfield. Too many square pegs in round holes.

I don't understand this. For his entire Arsenal career Auba has spent most of his time out wide and has been our leading scorer and Premier League Golden Boot contender. How all of a sudden is playing wide an issue for him?

What am I missing? How did he manage to become the fastest player to 50 Arsenal goals if playing out wide was a problem???

[Dejan]

Its an issue because we have none that can feed him. Our creativity in midfield is dead and we cant change it. So it seems that the only way we can add creativity right now is adjust or wingers. So if auba goes central, we can allow a creative winger to be played, whether that be willian, saka or pepe.

Its not about whether auba is better on the left or centre, its about having the best team.

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[theHotHead]

Aaaah its a lack of creativity thing in midfield.

So tell me, who was creating the chances for him previously? Was it Elneny? Was it Xhaka? Was it Torreira? Was it Guendouzi or AMN or Kola?

You know those were loaded rhetorical questions!!

It couldn't have been Ozil because Ozil has been shit for the past 3 seasons according to some of you, so who exactly was creating these chances for Auba?

Can you see where I am going with this?? Its not a lack of creativity and Auba playing wide that is the problem at all.

[Dejan]

Aaaah its a lack of creativity thing in midfield.

So tell me, who was creating the chances for him previously? Was it Elneny? Was it Xhaka? Was it Torreira? Was it Guendouzi or AMN or Kola?

You know those were loaded rhetorical questions!!

It couldn't have been Ozil because Ozil has been shit for the past 3 seasons according to some of you, so who exactly was creating these chances for Auba?

Can you see where I am going with this?? Its not a lack of creativity and Auba playing wide that is the problem at all.

Just because it worked last season, doesnt mean it works now. Teams learn how to setup, in addition to aubas poor form(or laziness if thats what your prefer), its just not working right now. If you look at last match, the only consistent players that were creating were tierney, saka, and 2 pings from luiz. We have a midfield thats truly unique: it doesnt know how to score, but it doesnt know how to assist either.
Also, its not only the feeding to auba which is the problem, its also the feeding from auba to our striker which is a problem, as he never been a really creative wide player

So yes, i believe changing our wingers is one of the first thing we have to do to add creativity.

Also, we cannot afford to play auba and laca every single match because they will run into the ground.

The following team imo has much more creativity than we have now, while still being defensively solid

Auba/Lacazette
Saka Willian Pepe
Elneny Partey

(Elneny switch with either xhaka or ceballos also possible, but neither 3 are any good tbh)

According to opta we have one of the lowest chance creating sides so far. We just cannot keep going the way we are and hope its magically dissapears

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[Power n Glory]

Play him up top for 5-10 games straight, if he can't do well there drop him.

He looks a fish out of water outwide

You have to be really special to not understand this. Can't entertain it.

You just know it's a bias against Auba when people can see that Nketiah has no business playing wide and Willian shouldn't be playing as the false 9 but expect Auba to deliver consistently when playing on the wing.

But ultimately this comes back to the manager and as said on the Arseblog podcast, it's more of worry if Arteta sees Lacazette's performances as the ideal for that central striker role. That idea extends to the front line attackers in general and also the midfield. Too many square pegs in round holes.

I don't understand this. For his entire Arsenal career Auba has spent most of his time out wide and has been our leading scorer and Premier League Golden Boot contender. How all of a sudden is playing wide an issue for him?

What am I missing? How did he manage to become the fastest player to 50 Arsenal goals if playing out wide was a problem???

Since when was Aubameyang a regular down the right and scored goals for Arsenal? He has 5 goals from the right wing. The majority of his goals come from central (40) and then 28 from the left.

I can't understand how you don't know what type of player he is. He's a service striker. He can't dribble anf he's not the best creative passer. Play him as a wide forward and you get the same issues as we had with Walcott, Podolski or even when we played Nketiah wide. Wide forwards work better when we're on the counter, when we have space behind and when teams press high up the pitch. It doesn't work against low block teams. As Dejan, it's also not going to work if we don't have enough creative players on the team.

Lacazette doesn't work as a false 9 so he's not pulling players out of position to make space for either player on the flank. It's disjointed. When the ball goes wide against low block teams the winger is often surrounded by 3 or 4 players. If a dribbler like Pepe is struggling to beat all 3 or 4 players to get to the box, what do you expect Aubameyang to do? The only strategy Mikeal seemed to have against Leicester was to play through our wing backs over the top. With the exception of Saka, there wasn't a player out there willing to play between the lines. Arteta had our 3 CM's staying deep and not one of them broke forward. It was a shambles.

Amazes me that you complain about Arteta's tactics but can't see one of the most obvious changes he should make. He needs to maximise the strengths of the players he has available and this isn't it.

[CrimsonGunner11]

There are games where Lacazette will be better than Auba up top and there are games where Auba will be better up top. The Leicester game, for example, was a game more suited for Lacazette, IMO, and I have no doubt Auba would have offered next to nothing if he was played centrally considering how Leicester set up to play. Just like Auba but a little less so, Lacazette can benefit from having creative players behind him, but unlike Auba, Lacazette is more creative which, IMO, is why he was the better option through the middle for the Leicester game and why both Lacazette and Auba were needed for the game. Let’s also not forget Lacazette had a goal wrongfully disallowed.

The issue lies with the manager who needs to decide how we set up so that we can get the most out of our forwards as well as the players who need to make sure we come away with three points from games. A 4-2-3-1 without 2 DMs or a 3-4-3 again without 2 DMs probably would have been better for the Leicester game.

So in short, it’s the manager and the directors who are mostly at fault for the Leicester loss as opposed to the players. The manager for not being able to figure out Leicester’s strategy and picking the wrong set up and the directors for not forcing the purchase of a creative player in the last transfer window.

[Power n Glory]

There are games where Lacazette will be better than Auba up top and there are games where Auba will be better up top. The Leicester game, for example, was a game more suited for Lacazette, IMO, and I have no doubt Auba would have offered next to nothing if he was played centrally considering how Leicester set up to play. Just like Auba but a little less so, Lacazette can benefit from having creative players behind him, but unlike Auba, Lacazette is more creative which, IMO, is why he was the better option through the middle for the Leicester game and why both Lacazette and Auba were needed for the game. Let’s also not forget Lacazette had a goal wrongfully disallowed.

The issue lies with the manager who needs to decide how we set up so that we can get the most out of our forwards as well as the players who need to make sure we come away with three points from games. A 4-2-3-1 without 2 DMs or a 3-4-3 again without 2 DMs probably would have been better for the Leicester game.

So in short, it’s the manager and the directors who are mostly at fault for the Leicester loss as opposed to the players. The manager for not being able to figure out Leicester’s strategy and picking the wrong set up and the directors for not forcing the purchase of a creative player in the last transfer window.

Mostly agree. It's on Arteta to figure out how he's trying to approach attacks. I'd agree with Laca being the better option against Leicester if the strategy was to create down the middle more and make use of Partey's dribbling and passing skills to break through lines. It would make sense to have Laca drop deep to play between the lines a little more. But instead we were play passes over the top to our wingbacks and they were then whipping the ball back into the box. Best player to latch on to those is Auba as seen last with against Rapid Vienna. Heck, even if Arteta would still prefer Lacazette to play in the middle, it made no sense having him play as a false 9 when our focus was playing down the channels. He made a total of 12 passes from 90 minutes of play. One pass in the box. About 4 touches in the box. You look at the heat maps and neither Laca or Auba are in the box that much. What's the point in whipping in crosses if both of your strikers are far away from the goal? Both will be knackered, broken and injured by the end of the season if he keeps this up.

[CrimsonGunner11]

There are games where Lacazette will be better than Auba up top and there are games where Auba will be better up top. The Leicester game, for example, was a game more suited for Lacazette, IMO, and I have no doubt Auba would have offered next to nothing if he was played centrally considering how Leicester set up to play. Just like Auba but a little less so, Lacazette can benefit from having creative players behind him, but unlike Auba, Lacazette is more creative which, IMO, is why he was the better option through the middle for the Leicester game and why both Lacazette and Auba were needed for the game. Let’s also not forget Lacazette had a goal wrongfully disallowed.

The issue lies with the manager who needs to decide how we set up so that we can get the most out of our forwards as well as the players who need to make sure we come away with three points from games. A 4-2-3-1 without 2 DMs or a 3-4-3 again without 2 DMs probably would have been better for the Leicester game.

So in short, it’s the manager and the directors who are mostly at fault for the Leicester loss as opposed to the players. The manager for not being able to figure out Leicester’s strategy and picking the wrong set up and the directors for not forcing the purchase of a creative player in the last transfer window.

Mostly agree. It's on Arteta to figure out how he's trying to approach attacks. I'd agree with Laca being the better option against Leicester if the strategy was to create down the middle more and make use of Partey's dribbling and passing skills to break through lines. It would make sense to have Laca drop deep to play between the lines a little more. But instead we were play passes over the top to our wingbacks and they were then whipping the ball back into the box. Best player to latch on to those is Auba as seen last with against Rapid Vienna. Heck, even if Arteta would still prefer Lacazette to play in the middle, it made no sense having him play as a false 9 when our focus was playing down the channels. He made a total of 12 passes from 90 minutes of play. One pass in the box. About 4 touches in the box. You look at the heat maps and neither Laca or Auba are in the box that much. What's the point in whipping in crosses if both of your strikers are far away from the goal? Both will be knackered, broken and injured by the end of the season if he keeps this up.

I believe this is one of the key reasons for the loss. Lacazette and Auba needed to be closer together for the majority of the game and, ideally, in the opposition’s box so they could feed off each other.

I remember seeing Lacazette attempt a slide tackle at the edge of our box and, as anyim pointed out, Auba playing a cross to Bellerin. These are the jobs of our midfielders and defenders. The midfield area specifically was slacking, IMO. Better cover from the players there would have given our fullbacks more confidence to get forward allowing Auba to move more centrally and more enthusiasm from the players there would have helped keep Leicester pinned further back allowing Lacazette to stay forward and have more time in the box.

Given the right setup with the right players, Auba and Lacazette wouldn’t need to do things forwards really don’t need to do in games thus allowing them to concentrate their energy towards what they do best and that’s finding ways to put the ball in the back of the net.

[Angelito]

Nothing wrong trying a 4-3-3 with:

Willian - Auba - Pepe
Saka - Ceballos
Thomas

After Martinelli returns, I'd like to try a Bayern-esque 4-2-3-1 with:

Auba
Saka - Martinelli - Pepe
Thomas - Ceballos

[Santi]

Tbh 4-4-2 might actually suit our team best atm, Willian can handle RM role and Saka LM with Ceba and Partey in the middle.


Keeps both Laca and Auba in the box, just because nobody else really plays it anymore doesn't mean we shouldn't try it. We don't have good enough wide forwards for 4-3-3 and we're negating what were our 2 best players the way we're currently playing.

[jayramfootball]

There is only one thing we need... for our players to perform in a more positive fashion in the final 3rd.

[CrimsonGunner11]

Nothing wrong trying a 4-3-3 with:

Willian - Auba - Pepe
Saka - Ceballos
Thomas

After Martinelli returns, I'd like to try a Bayern-esque 4-2-3-1 with:

Auba
Saka - Martinelli - Pepe
Thomas - Ceballos

Nothing wrong with a 4-3-3 at all and nothing wrong with trying Auba as the central striker. The point I was trying to make in my post is that Lacazette could do just as good a job as if not a better job than Auba as the main striker in certain games. The Leicester game being one of those games IMO

Tbh 4-4-2 might actually suit our team best atm, Willian can handle RM role and Saka LM with Ceba and Partey in the middle.


Keeps both Laca and Auba in the box, just because nobody else really plays it anymore doesn't mean we shouldn't try it. We don't have good enough wide forwards for 4-3-3 and we're negating what were our 2 best players the way we're currently playing.

Yep. Considered this too but for it to work it needs Partey to get up to speed quickly and, at the very least, meet expectations of him.

[Dejan]

Tbh 4-4-2 might actually suit our team best atm, Willian can handle RM role and Saka LM with Ceba and Partey in the middle.


Keeps both Laca and Auba in the box, just because nobody else really plays it anymore doesn't mean we shouldn't try it. We don't have good enough wide forwards for 4-3-3 and we're negating what were our 2 best players the way we're currently playing.

I dont think we will create much more than we are doing now using the 4-4-2 you are suggesting. Ceballos and partey dont do anything going forward(atleast so far for partey now). So it depends on saka and tierney all.over again. We can try, but im much more in favour of the 4-3-3 Angelito and i posted.

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[Santi]

I think Pepe and Willian have both been shit so couldn't stand both of them on the field. Rather play Nelson and Martinelli but need the latter to get fit.

Did think the same though, there's still a lack of creation but at least the forwards would be in the box rather than f***ing around in CM or on the left wing.

[theHotHead]

Play him up top for 5-10 games straight, if he can't do well there drop him.

He looks a fish out of water outwide

You have to be really special to not understand this. Can't entertain it.

You just know it's a bias against Auba when people can see that Nketiah has no business playing wide and Willian shouldn't be playing as the false 9 but expect Auba to deliver consistently when playing on the wing.

But ultimately this comes back to the manager and as said on the Arseblog podcast, it's more of worry if Arteta sees Lacazette's performances as the ideal for that central striker role. That idea extends to the front line attackers in general and also the midfield. Too many square pegs in round holes.

I don't understand this. For his entire Arsenal career Auba has spent most of his time out wide and has been our leading scorer and Premier League Golden Boot contender. How all of a sudden is playing wide an issue for him?

What am I missing? How did he manage to become the fastest player to 50 Arsenal goals if playing out wide was a problem???

Since when was Aubameyang a regular down the right and scored goals for Arsenal? He has 5 goals from the right wing. The majority of his goals come from central (40) and then 28 from the left.

I can't understand how you don't know what type of player he is. He's a service striker. He can't dribble anf he's not the best creative passer. Play him as a wide forward and you get the same issues as we had with Walcott, Podolski or even when we played Nketiah wide. Wide forwards work better when we're on the counter, when we have space behind and when teams press high up the pitch. It doesn't work against low block teams. As Dejan, it's also not going to work if we don't have enough creative players on the team.

Lacazette doesn't work as a false 9 so he's not pulling players out of position to make space for either player on the flank. It's disjointed. When the ball goes wide against low block teams the winger is often surrounded by 3 or 4 players. If a dribbler like Pepe is struggling to beat all 3 or 4 players to get to the box, what do you expect Aubameyang to do? The only strategy Mikeal seemed to have against Leicester was to play through our wing backs over the top. With the exception of Saka, there wasn't a player out there willing to play between the lines. Arteta had our 3 CM's staying deep and not one of them broke forward. It was a shambles.

Amazes me that you complain about Arteta's tactics but can't see one of the most obvious changes he should make. He needs to maximise the strengths of the players he has available and this isn't it.

Mate, why are you talking about wide right?? I said wide. And you have not come up with a reason why the tactic has worked thus far for Auba playing wide at Arsenal, he was scoring loads of goals - this includes the the player himself has. How did he manage to score so many goals if he is so ineffective/has so many limitations playing there ???