Unai Emery insists he is open to adaptating his tactics at Arsenal – but says he will not be pairing Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against West Ham.
The Spaniard has used a 4-2-3-1 formation in each of the Gunners matches thus far, with Aubameyang leading the line and Lacazette starting on the bench.
Doing so from the start against the Hammers at the Emirates has been mooted as a possibility as Arsenal look for their first points of the season, following the 2-0 reverse to Manchester City and the 3-2 loss at Chelsea.
The duo are close friends off the field and both have been keen to stress that they can play together.
But playing from wide isn’t something that suits either forward, both of whom prefer to play at the point of attack.
And Emery, when asked whether he would change his formation this weekend to accommodate the duo as a partnership, had some bad news for the pair.
“At the moment, no,” said Emery when asked if they would play together. “At the moment, I think we need to have the control with the possession, with the positioning on the pitch, with more players inside.
Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang admits he must do better in future after missing a sitter in his side’s defeat to Chelsea. The Gabonese forward missed a golden opportunity to level the game at 1-1 after 19 minutes when he skied a cutback from Hector Bellerin. Chelsea doubled their lead 53 seconds later when Alvaro Morata converted at the other end and Unai Emery was visibly frustrated with Aubameyang for the miss. Arsenal got back into the game but Marcos Alonso’s late strike gave Chelsea all three points and Aubameyang apologised for his miss.