Arsenal: Goals only make Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang useful

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a prolific goalscorer. But the goals only make him useful. What makes the Arsenal striker truly world-class is everything else.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could stake a claim to be the best goalscorer of his generation. There are others, of course, who consistently produce outrageous numbers. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero. But Aubameyang’s figures are very much in the same ballpark.

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The Arsenal striker nabbed another brace on Sunday. He now has 17 Premier League goals on the season, the joint-most in the league. He was the co-Golden Boot winner last year with 22 goals and has scored more goals than any other player since he arrived in north London in January 2018.

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But while, as a striker, he will be judged by the number of goals that he scores, his making the net ripple simply means he is a useful, productive player to the team. What makes him different to many other out-and-out goalscorers is everything else.

Aubameyang’s phenomenal form this season was put to his strikemate Alexandre Lacazette on Wednesday afternoon. Lacazette was keen to highlight the other things that Aubameyang does for the team beyond scoring goals:

"“I think people should talk more about Auba and what he is doing in the game because he is more than a goalscorer. He is working a lot for the team defensively and making space for the other striker – Eddie or me – and I think if we start to win more trophies, people will talk more about what he is doing for the team. He’s one of the best or maybe he’s been the best player this season for Arsenal. Obviously I hope he’s going to stay.”"

His two-goal performance against Everton was a clear illustration of this. Yes, Aubameyang scored twice, including the winner, but his defensive workrate, hard running, clever interplay and direct dribbling were equally as significant. It was these qualities that his head coach was most eager to praise in his post-match press conference:

"“I’m so happy with Auba because he is scoring very important goals for us, but as well as a captain he’s giving a great example to everyone else. That a player of his calibre is able to work the way that he is working defensively… because of the demands of the matchday are big, and he is willing and he is happily doing it and I think we should pay regards to him.”"

Like Lacazette, Mikel Arteta understands that it would be easy for Aubameyang to score goals and do nothing else. He is, after all, a tremendous goalscorer and he would still be an invaluable part of the team if that was all he did. But what separates him from many other goalscorers around the world is his desire, his determination, his adaptability, his leadership off and on the pitch, and his willingness to play out on the wing when he would much rather be through the middle.

Aubameyang is a truly elite player. Arsenal are incredibly fortunate to have him. But his goals are just a part of what he does, and it is everything else that makes him oh so special.