Football writer Charles Watts has criticised the form of Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after his performance in the Premier League at the weekend.
On Saturday lunchtime, the Gunners cruised to a routine 2-0 home win thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
However, in the first half against Newcastle United, with the scores still level, Aubameyang missed a gilt-edged opportunity when it looked easier to score than miss.
Taking that into account, and the fact that the striker has now failed to score in any of his last four games – which includes a penalty miss against Watford – Watts suggested the star’s poor form is ‘costing Arsenal at the moment’.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, the journalist said this may have Mikel Arteta ready to drop the 32-year-old.
He explained: “Auba is playing poorly, there is no doubt about it. He is costing Arsenal at the moment with his lack of confidence. He should have scored at the weekend, should have scored against Watford in the game before the trip to Anfield – robbed [Martin] Odegaard of a goal because he’s so desperate to get himself a goal because of his confidence in that game.
“And he’s beginning to cost Arsenal a little bit. And so you’ve got to think that Mikel must be thinking, ‘Do I need to take Auba out for a little bit?’
“Because he’s struggling for goals, he’s not scoring and that’s having an impact. I mean, Arsenal should have been one-nil up in the first half at the weekend. You can’t be missing a chance like that.
“So you do wonder what he’s going to do with Auba.”
TIF Thoughts on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Arsenal…
All in all, Aubameyang has performed to any okay level so far this season – he has seven goals and two assists in 13 games across all competitions.
Should Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang be dropped?
Yes
No
And he is currently leading an Arsenal side to some fairly good results, which see them sit fifth in the Premier League, only out of the Champions League places due to having a worse goal difference than West Ham United.
Even so, Aubameyang does not look like he’s going to hit the same heights that saw him score 20 or more league goals in his first two full seasons with the club. If Arteta isn’t happy with that, he may well look to mix things up, with Alexandre Lacazette and Martinelli waiting in the wings.
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