Arsenal: There’s a reason Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is just a ‘shadow’

Alan Smith has described Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as a shadow of his former self. There’s a reason: Arsene Wenger’s, and Arsenal’s, system does not provide adequate service.

When Arsenal signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a club-record £56 million, there was a growing excitement that the pacy, fluid, dynamic attacking performances of yesteryear would quickly be returning to North London. A truly lethal, top-tier striker spearheading a creative and ingenious midfield. What could possibly go wrong?

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Well, perhaps this isn’t quite the unbreakable, inseparable marriage that many had been hoping for. In five games so far for the club, Aubameyang has scored just twice, one of which should have been ruled for offside. He has been largely isolated for extended periods of matches, squandered clear-cut chances, and missed a penalty.

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The concerns are growing. The latest to publicly raise his worries is former Gunners’ striker and Sky Sports’ pundit Alan Smith, who was commentating on the 2-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday. Smith, after the loss, admitted that Aubameyang does not resemble the player that was so searingly destructive for Borussia Dortmund:

"“He looked a shadow of the player he was at Dortmund. Even he, in the short time he’s been at Arsenal, has been affected by the mood. He got his goal with a little flick, but he’s not the player I hoped he would be. I’m not saying he’s a bad player, but it’s a malaise through the dressing room and he’s been affected.”"

Smith touches on why that might, absolving Aubameyang of some of the blame, and questioning what he eloquently describes as the ‘malaise’ of the club. And while that is a fair and accurate tempering factor for Aubameyang’s disappointments, there is a more technical, tactical, on-pitch reason for his struggles: The system and style that Arsene Wenger implements restricts the quality, speed, and frequency of the service that the lone centre-forward is provided with.

Specifically, the deep-lying midfield that Arsenal are able to cobble together — whether it be Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Granit Xhaka or Mohamed Elneny — are unable to provide the foundation for the more attacking players in the team to work with. The tempo of the passing is far too slow, allowing the opposition to discipline themselves well, and they lack the piercing, line-breaking forward-thinking passes that cut defenders out of the play.

And this is not necessarily the fault of the individuals, although they are hardly the solution. Actually, much of this should be laid at the doorstep of Wenger. There is a painful lack of instruction for these players, such that they hesitate, ponder, and slow down the play. The positions, therefore, become static, and the movement is restricted, absent of the rotation that is required to pull the opposition out of their shape to create the passing lanes and angles in the final third that can then be exploited.

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Aubameyang has not lived up to expectations, and Smith is accurate when he says that he looks like a shadow of his former self. But it is hardly fair to blame him. The supply simply isn’t there. Any striker would toil in such conditions.