Arsenal 2-2 Rangers: 3 talking points from pre-season draw

3. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Looks More Than Rusty

The immediate criticism Aubameyang received following, and during, his performance was expected. There is no arguing that the three misses were not chances he should have been easily tucking away.

What has to be mentioned however, is that he finished last season unfit having contracted malaria and has played little over 90 minutes in pre-season so far. It will always take time, even for the best, to get up to speed and drawing conclusions this soon is unfair.

The first miss can happen, the second one shouldn’t, and the third one was pure laziness and expectancy of the shot to trickle into the net. These come across of issues of focus, which is concerning, although with fitness building up so too will his tempo and if we’re looking at the same issues come the end of the Florida Cup the serious questions can be asked.

As for the rest of his performance, as is always the case when chances are being missed it’s overlooked that he is still finding himself on the end of them.

Positioning wise he looked prepared and his movement off the ball was effective. He even got involved in some of the build-up play which went unnoticed, obviously down to those three pesky misses.

It doesn’t make for invigorating viewing seeing the captain off the boil in front of goal, but the gas has only just turned on. Save the scorn for a few more weeks at least.