Arsenal: Has Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cooled off as of late?

Arsenal just aren’t seeing the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from earlier in the season, where he would come off the bench and pot two goals effortlessly.

I’m a huge fan of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but I was expecting  more out of him down the stretch. I was hoping he would ‘step it up’ and get a couple of braces or a hat trick to finish off the season strong and win the Golden Boot for Arsenal! Kind of like Harry Kane, who seems to finish strong down the stretch, as witnessed over the last few seasons. Instead, lately Aubameyang seems to be just limping along.

The race for the Golden Boot is there for the taking! He’s just two goals behind Sergio Aguero and one behind Mohamed Salah. And yet he just doesn’t seem to be showing that drive to finish that he had at the beginning of the season, when he was always sneaking in behind the centre back and racking up goals.

He was advertised as a pure goal scorer, a ‘fox-in-the-box’ type of forward but he seems to spend too much time outside the box at Arsenal, instead of in his favoured No. 9 position.

Has the Arsenal Manager, Unai Emery, misused Aubameyang? Does Emery not know how to utilize both the strikers he has at his disposal to their utmost potential? I mean, Alexandre Lacazette has been brilliant this season, there’s no denying that, but if Aubameyang is the more prolific goal scorer, the real ‘fox-in-the-box’, then why isn’t he playing more consistently ‘in’ the box?

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When the ball is deep in the Arsenal zone you will find Aubameyang defending the left flank admirably, but wouldn’t you rather see him lurking around the two opposing centre backs waiting for that quick release from Mesut Ozil or that longer direct ball from Granit Xhaka? Almost comparable to how Leicester City release the speed of Jamie Vardy. And we know Aubameyang has speed to burn so why not have him somewhere on the pitch where he can use it, instead of covering an opposing winger or fullback.

In the Premiere League, a striker doesn’t get in a position too often in their career to win the scoring race and with just a handful of games remaining, Aubameyang is right in the mix. It would be nice to see him really go for it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Be ruthless! I want to see that trademark celebration again and again. And I guess he still might, but I haven’t seen a lot of goals coming from the Arsenal striker lately. He has certainly cooled off.

I’m hoping he will crank it up and go for glory down the stretch, which would help the Gunners achieve their other two objectives. It would be a nice triple for the fans, a win in the Europa, a top four finish, and a Golden Boot winner!