Peter Crouch has hailed “phenomenal” Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and questioned why his brilliance is going under the radar.
Writing in his weekly Daily Mail column, Crouch said he can’t fathom why the Arsenal striker’s outstanding record since moving to the Premier League in January is failing to get pundits excited.
“What I’m struggling to work out about Arsenal’s fantastic run is why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s on-field brilliance is not being highlighted more,” Crouch told the Daily Mail. “He’s a striker of the highest calibre and his record since coming to England has been phenomenal.
“If Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah or Sergio Aguero had been on a run of 20 goals in 27 games — his second in the 4-2 win over Tottenham was first class — we would be in a hurry to say how great they are, but it feels as if some people aren’t paying attention to Aubameyang.”
OPINION
Does Crouch have a fair point? To an extent, yes. Aubameyang’s goal return since his January move from Borussia Dortmund is sensational – 22 goals from 33 matches in all competitions. His blistering, super-clever movement and precision in front of goal places him among the very best Arsenal forwards of the modern era. Behind Thierry Henry, certainly, but on a par with Robin van Persie and ahead of Emmanuel Adebayor, Olivier Giround and company. Perhaps one of the reasons Aubameyang hasn’t been mentioned in the same breath as Golden Boot favourites Kane, Salah and Aguero is that Arsenal have been fairly mediocre for much of his time in England – up until the last two months – and he has not been a nailed-on starter in the centre-forward role since Unai Emery took the Emirates Stadium reins. The Gabon international has played seven of his 19 matches this season on the left wing and even started on the bench against Leicester and Fulham (although he scored doubles in both of those games).