The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang era at Arsenal is over as Mikel Arteta’ side transition away from the former captain. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a player that I admired before he came to Arsenal, and with the highlights that can be found in his play, it is not difficult to understand why that was.
His skill and finishing ability, when on form and focused, has been second to very few as he came up through the Ligue 1 side St. Etienne, as well as when he was purchased by Borussia Dortmund, where he would further blossom into the player that the club purchased at the dying days of the Arsene Wenger era.
Through two additional managers, Auba has served as a beacon of talent, of inspiration, of dynamism and of what the team could and should be; at some point during his time with the club, however, something changed, and it likely wasn’t regarding the player, but his very environment itself.
Aubameyang is both a brilliant player, as well as a very positive, kind person. He is no bad egg or trouble maker, he is not disrespectful, but absent-minded, and while that sort of absent-mindedness can be forgiven while a team is developing, it is more difficult to reconcile when the team is actually moving beyond what Auba has long witnessed at and with Arsenal.
The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang era at Arsenal is over as Mikel Arteta’ side transition away from the former captain
With the team playing some of its best football in ages with the former captain of the squad nowhere to be found, it appears more and more obvious that this team has evolved passed Auba. The team that we are watching week in and out is so fast, so free with the ball, so organized in the attack, and so persistent to get the ball back when they do not have it, that it now appears as though the 32-year-old might have actually been, inadvertently of course, holding this team back.
While this realization is a positive one regarding the team, it is a sad one regarding the player and his time on north London.
Aubameyang will not remain with this team for much longer, especially considering how talented he is and can be when given the right circumstances and environments to thrive within, and that is OK. All parties involved, whether it be the player, his old club, as well as his new one, will benefit from this transfer when it eventually comes, either in January or the summer, and yet it is nonetheless sad to see it come to this.
Auba has put up impressive numbers during his time in north London, and he has been an impressive player for this team on and off the pitch. While he has made a few errors in both places – those are always forgivable should they be smaller enough – assuming they do not begin to feel too out of place with the team that he is on.
For Arsenal, the situation simply changed.
Continued on next page…
#AFC</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://t.co/VmcUmpOxVS">pic.twitter.com/VmcUmpOxVS
<p>— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://twitter.com/ChrisWheatley_/status/1475216193875329028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>December 26, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
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<h2>The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang era at Arsenal is over as Mikel Arteta’ side transition away from the former captain</h2>
<p>With the team playing some of <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/26/arsenal-5-talking-points-norwich-win/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its best football in ages</a> with the former captain of the squad nowhere to be found, it appears more and more obvious that this team has evolved passed Auba. The team that we are watching week in and out is so fast, so free with the ball, so organized in the attack, and so persistent to get the ball back when they do not have it, that it now appears as though the 32-year-old might have actually been, inadvertently of course, holding this team back.</p>
<p>While this realization is a positive one regarding the team, it is a sad one regarding the player and his time on north London.</p>
<p>Aubameyang will not remain with this team for much longer, especially considering how talented he is and can be when given the right circumstances and environments to thrive within, and that is OK. All parties involved, whether it be the player, his old club, as well as his new one, will benefit from this transfer when it eventually comes, <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/27/arsenal-5-maitland-niles-replacements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">either in January</a> or the summer, and yet it is nonetheless sad to see it come to this.</p>
<p>Auba has put up impressive numbers during his time in north London, and he has been an impressive player for this team on and off the pitch. While he has made a few errors in both places – those are always forgivable should they be smaller enough – assuming they do not begin to feel too out of place with the team that he is on.</p>
<p>For Arsenal, the situation simply changed.</p>
<p><em>Continued on next page…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Arsenal are heading in a different direction to Auba </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-121916" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1236064766-850x560.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Auba" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Arsenal Are a Better Team Without Aubameyang</h2>
<p>Where once Aubameyang was a fundamental and highly important part of this team, he has been usurped, not by one individual, but by a total team mentality that the club didn’t have in the early Arteta days, any more than it did during the days of Unai Emery.</p>
<p>When Auba doesn’t play now, the team is not trying to replace him with a number nine, so much as they are playing a total, complete and balanced football match where almost all of their players can be considered to be threats to score. If it is not Alexandre Lacazette it is Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard, <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/27/gabriel-martinelli-arsenal-star-norwich/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gabriel Martinelli</a>, or someone else.</p>
<p>This is precisely how the best clubs play the modern game, and Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are prime examples of this. While they have Gabriel Jesus, that is really all they have in terms of central striking options; with the departure of Sergio Aguero many believed that the team would get either Harry Kane or Cristiano Ronaldo. When they failed to, some wondered how the team would score, and when they witnessed how the team scored, they wondered if that was sustainable over so many competitions across an entire year.</p>
<p>Yet judging by the first place Citizens, they are not doing too badly. They have such interchangeability, such vision, such confidence and such fun when they play, that everyone turns into a number nine when they have the ball in front of the net. This brilliant football is why other teams, even the best of England and Europe, are always chasing Pep and complimenting his teams, even when they fail to win it all.</p>
<p>Arsenal wants this to be their style as well, and while Aubameyang is a brilliant number nine when he is on form, he doesn’t always play with the same ambition that Lacazette has shown since Auba has fallen out of favor. He doesn’t even always show the finishing ability that young Eddie Nketiah demonstrated recently, and as Auba remains such a valuable asset to teams that still need a main, central striker match in and out, resources can be earned from his sale, while opportunities can be created for other players.</p>
<p>If and when Auba leaves, then Lacazette should be offered a place on the club going forward, with Nketiah and Balogun as supplementary strikers, unless, preferably, a transfer coup can be engineered for some talent from the Italian, German or other leagues around Europe. While I for one will be sad to see the Gabonese number nine leave, it might all just be a situation where all parties have outgrown one another, and a place like <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/21/arsenal-offered-auba-transfer-barcelona/">Barcelona might offer the player a welcome opportunity, while the Gunners salvage some money in the whole ordeal.</p>
<p>There will be no easy way to say goodbye to a player who has done so much for this team at a time when things were at some of their lowest points, but that seems to be exactly where this relationship is currently headed. Aubameyang, with all of his <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://www.90min.com/leagues/premier-league" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Premier League</a> goals, his two trophies with the club, and Europa League chances, will be remembered as a very valuable transition piece for Arsenal as they went from Wenger, to Emery, to Arteta.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Midfield transfer hint?" data-url="https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/27/arsenal-major-january-transfer-hint/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/28/aubameyang-era-ends-arsenal-arteta/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2021/12/27/arsenal-major-january-transfer-hint/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Midfield transfer hint? </a> </div>
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<p>While he might still be able to regain his spot on the squad, it, for all intents and purposes, appears that the circumstances have simply changed with this team and with its formerly most prized player; each will have to adjust accordingly, and there could be real, serious benefits for each should they decide to do just that.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
