Captain fantastic! — Aubameyang’s heroics against Liverpool shows he can lead Arteta’s Arsenal revolution
Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates after scores the winning penalty in a penalty shootout at the end of the English FA Community Shield soccer match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020. (Andrew Couldridge/Pool via AP)
110 appearances, 71 goals, strikers of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ilk are not easy to come by, especially given the situation of things at Arsenal in the past few seasons.
The Gunners have been a shadow of themselves since Arsene Wenger’s departure with Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg — his two immediate successors — failing to provide the needed results during their stints at the club.
Mikel Arteta, who took over as coach in December 2019, will be hoping to bridge expectations and so far, he seemed poised for greatness at the club he once dazzled as a player.
His success at the club, however, will be determinative of the willingness and determination of the players at his disposal to work with him.
For now, he has a handful of them — enter Aubameyang.
The Gabonlese international has continued pull the strings at the heart of Arsenal’s attack since his historic move from Borussia Dortmund.
And on Sunday again, she showed why he’s many Arsenal fans’ favourite.
Aubameyang has continued to blaze the trail with individual efforts even when the club has struggled to maintain the consistency needed to see off competition from their fierce rivals in the battle for EPL and European glory.
His two decisive goals against Liverpool in the final of the Community Shield on Sunday showed he is a striker in a class of his own and can be trusted with the task of leading Arsenal’s new quest for dominance.
Arteta’s two trophies during his short stint as the club’s coach so far owe much to the striker’s brilliance and he will be hoping that the Gabonlese international commits his future to the team amid talks of a potential exit over Arsenal’s failure to compete for major honours.
Aubemayang is the out and out forward Arsenal needs to be a force to be reckoned with in the 2020/2021 season.
A down-to-earth yet determined figure, his wealth of experience will provide the needed inspiration for other young bloods in the team still trying to find their feet.
