Arsenal: Sorry, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a winger

Arsenal gave Pierre-Emerick Aubaneyang sole rights to the striker position and again, he showed that he hasn’t really earned it at all.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang worked his way up from winger to striker before coming to Arsenal, to the extent that he was regarded as one of the better strikers in world football. Such was the man that we acquired to compliment Alexandre Lacazette.

Only, in light of Arsene Wenger never playing two strikers, Aubameyang was shoe-horned to the left wing, where he scored seemingly at will, and was able to partner with Lacazette to utter perfection.

He was given very few starts at striker and eventually voiced his displeasure at this, but the results spoke for themselves. Clearly he had no problems doing what he does best from wide angles.

This year, he has started two matches at striker, against two of the biggest teams, and he has done literally nothing. Aside from miss chances that is.

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And the problem with that is that, without another goal-scorer out there, when Aubameyang fails, the entire team is missing a point to their attack. It’s a bad situation to be in, yet it’s one that we are confining ourselves to so long as we give Aubameyang sole rights to that coveted No. 9 position.

Which is why it’s about time we strip him of those rights. Not because he isn’t good enough. Obviously he is good enough. But because there is just too much riding on the role to trust to him. Especially when you have Lacazette, a tried and true finisher, sitting on the bench.

It is time to be honest with ourselves and who best fits where. You can’t have entire matches where a striker goes missing. That is what Aubameyang has been doing. On the wings, he finds far more space to work with, his speed can be used to better effect and, if he does struggle to finish, then at least we have Lacazette in the middle, tucking away gobs of goals.

You know it’s bad when even Aubameyang admits that he would play on the left wing if it meant starting next to Lacazette. Everyone seems to understand the need except for our manager(s).

Aubameyang will have good games at striker too, but why wait? The man is better used as a winger whether he likes it or not. It really is that simple to solve the problem here.