Arsenal: We need to talk about Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Unai Emery played with one central striker in the last two matches. Arsenal instantly improved. That is no coincidence. We need to talk about Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

When Arsenal signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a club-record £52 million last January, there was a slightly puzzling response. How would he fit with Mesut Ozil, who had just been handed a new £350,000-a-week deal, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was swapped in for Alexis Sanchez just a week prior, and Alexandre Lacazette, a very comparable centre-forward who cost £47 million just six months earlier?

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The answer, since that time, is not well. While I initially argued that Aubameyang could revert to his wide goalscoring position that he grew up in and first played at Borussia Dortmund before moving to striker, the proof is in the pudding, and this week, that pudding has been emphatic.

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Unai Emery shifted to a lone-striker system the past two matches. Arsenal won 3-0 and 2-0, controlling both games and looking as fluent as they have all season. And this was a true, lone-striker system. Not one that shifted one of the centre-forwards slightly to one side. There was one striker, two wingers, and number 10 at the heart of it all. And it worked. The 4-2-3-1, which is a slight modification on the 4-3-3, I believe, is Emery’s preferred approach.

The problem, though, is that fielding both Lacazette and Aubameyang in that system is awkward at best. They may be the two best goalscorers in the squad, arguably the two best players in the squad, but if their presence comes at the expense of the collective cohesion of the team, then it might be better to drop one for the other.

That leads straight into the question of whether selling one or the other might be smart business this summer. Arsenal have several holes that need filling in the transfer window. Lacazette or Aubameyang could both fetch a pretty penny and would offload substantial wages — it is the wages where the Gunners are really stretching themselves financially at present.

Perhaps selling one and reinvesting that money in another position or positions might be intelligent and aware work that could greater benefit the team than holding onto the both. Obviously, in terms of sheer quality, losing either player would be detrimental. But I cannot see how either would be happy sitting on the bench while the other starts, and if that is the case, then selling becomes a logical consequence.

One thing that is in their favour is that they are both very close friends, they enjoy playing with one another, and if two predominantly selfish goalscorers could be convinced to play second fiddle to one another at times, it is these two. But would it make sense for Arsenal to have a £50 million sit on the bench when they have other positions that require investment?

I love both Aubameyang and Lacazette and I feel that they are a testament to the club, both in their play on the pitch and their characters off it. But I am beginning to feel more and more that they both do not fit in the same team. Perhaps those puzzling response were right after all.