Three Things Arsenal Need To Do To Shine This Season

1) Benching of Lacazette has been a surprise for many. The striker seemed to be developing a promising partnership with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but so far Emery has preferred the latter as his number nine.

While neither have yet to score this season, Lacazette has had a notable impact off the bench. He is more effective at holding up the ball and occupying the opposition centre backs than Aubameyang is. This, in turn, helps create more space in midfield for Arsenal to play with.

Aubameyang has a fearsome record as a striker but has found these last three games to be tough going. Missed chances aside, he’s found it difficult to get involved in games and has been asked to contribute more in the build-up than he’s accustomed to.

Lacazette is a more natural fit for the way Arsenal want to play and should return to the starting line-up.

However, this doesn’t have to be at Aubameyang’s expense.

2) Playing Aubameyang anywhere else but in the middle feels like a waste but there are good reasons why Emery should consider it.

Arsene Wenger used him as a left-sided attacker last season and it didn’t blunt his goalscoring whatsoever. The Gabonese can make his usual runs and find advantageous positions in the penalty area regardless of where he is on the pitch.

Playing on the flank demands more of him defensively yet Arsenal have a kinder run of games coming up; games where they’ll surely have more of the ball than they’ve had so far. Aubameyang’s defensive burden shouldn’t be that heavy.

At the same time, it will increase the potency of Arsenal’s attack by allowing him and Lacazette to play together.

Aubameyang has said that he’s happy to play wherever if it means he and Lacazette can be on the pitch together. There’s a chemistry between them that could seriously benefit the team if it’s allowed to flourish.

3) It’s looking more and more like it’ll be one of Aaron Ramsey or Mesut Ozil rather than both at once.

Emery regards Ramsey as a number eight or number ten, suggesting that he doesn’t see him playing in a double pivot like he has done throughout most of his Arsenal career.

Indeed, the Welshman played as the number ten against Manchester City and as the most advanced of a midfield trio against West Ham.

This creates a dilemma for Emery as he also has Ozil to fit into his side.

Playing the German anywhere other than the number ten position has yielded mixed results. It’s possible that he could play more on the right side of the attack at the expense of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

However you look at it, one of Arsenal’s high profile attacking players will have to miss out for the sake of a balanced team.

Ozil’s frequent bouts of illness may make the choice easier on occasion, but the sooner Emery can decide on his optimal starting line-up, the easier it’ll be to integrate his style of play.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *