Jamie Redknapp believes that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might not be as happy at Arsenal as he would make it out to be.
The Gabon international has been made to operate on the left flank to accommodate both Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe in the Arsenal lineup.
Aubameyang played that role last season but the arrival of Pepe means he will have to operate there majority of the time from now on. The positional change has not really affected as dramatically as one would think since his scoring numbers are still outstanding. The forward has scored 3 goals in the 4 Premier League games he has played in so far.
Redknapp said, “Lacazette will say he’s very happy where he’s playing. But Aubameyang, I would say there’s a slight problem. He seems a really good guy who will just get on with it.
“I remember interviewing him last year and I asked him how he feels about that left-side role. I remember him playing at West Ham away, they lost the game and he played right and then left. It doesn’t suit him.
“As soon as he went central, you just see, that’s where he wants to be. He wants to be between the widths of the post, that’s where he does his damage, that’s where he scores his goals. I think that because he gives them to himself, he’ll be fine with it. If you want to get the best out of this team, he for me has to play central.
“With Liverpool, it’s a similar formation, the front three they have are all happy with their positions. They don’t question where they’re playing, they’re all getting goals. He’s [Aubameyang’s] the one player that doesn’t seem comfortable.”
When asked on whether Arsenal should think about selling Lacazette, Redknapp replied, “No. I don’t think you do. Lacazette was fantastic, scored a great goal. No complaints about how he played, his performance was brilliant. But that is the problem with those three – Aubameyang is not quite as happy playing in that wide-left role.”
Speaking after 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, Aubameyang told Sky Sports, “Yes, as I’ve always said, I like to play striker, but when the team needs me on the wing, no matter what I’ll go there and I’ll try my best.
“In the first half I think we maybe deserved to score two goals, but then that’s what happened. We’re not happy with that, but we did a great job and played well in a tough game. We deserved more. I think after those two goals we started to put on the pressure and we tried to push a lot and Laca scored the first one.
“In the second half we had some chances and we scored the second one. I think we had the space to score a third one, but as I’ve said, it was a tough game so it’s a draw tonight.”
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