Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the art of moving on

Arsenal could have come out of Wembley much differently had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit his mark, but now it comes down to moving on as quickly as possible.

There was palpable devastation on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s face when he missed the penalty against Spurs and was then denied the follow-up as well. He knew what this meant to Arsenal, the fans, and to him as well, and he had to feel as though he let the lot of them down.

Thankfully, his teammates were there to pick him up in a big way and show serious support for him. Fans were too, which was the best part, seeing as how they can be vicious things, especially when robbed of three points against Spurs.

But no matter how much support Aubameyang is feeling now, he isn’t going to feel completely better until he gets back out on the pitch and puts it all behind him. And then best way to do that is to get out there, score some goals, and have some fun again.

I don’t often say “well that works out nicely, doesn’t it” with regards to Arsenal, because it rarely ever does, but this time, I am able to say that it does all work out rather nicely for Aubameyang, doesn’t it?

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Because between Spurs and Manchester United, there is this cushy match in France against Rennes in the Europa League Round of 16 that will likely spot Aubameyang another 90 minutes with which to play with. Alexandre Lacazette will still be serving his suspension, so whatever scoring power we hope to find will have to come from the man that needs to put the nerves behind him.

It was an odd thing, seeing Aubameyang look that disheartened, and I didn’t like it one bit. He’s always smiling, always laughing, always having fun. Which is why I’m glad we have a match where he can ideally get back to that and have a bit of fun, score some goals and transition into another big match against United where we will need him to be firing and confident.

Thankfully, he’s a bonafide professional and has years of experience backing him, so I don’t see why he won’t be able to do just that.

Plus, with a player like Aubameyang, usually when you throw them a disappointment like that, they end up coming back like their hair is on fire. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see an extra dose of life in Aubameyang going forward.