European football expert Julien Laurens claims that Mikel Arteta is not foolish about continuing to play Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the wing if he wants to play better centrally.
Aubameyang has battled for goals this season despite having scored 22 goals in each of the last two seasons.
The striker has played and delivered as a left forward the entire time Mikel Arteta was Arsenal boss.
But now that his goals have dried up, the Spanish coach has been pressured by fans to play the attacker through the middle.
However, Julien claims Arteta won’t play him in that position because the Gabonese striker won’t be able to press like Alexandre Lacazette.
He claims Arteta’s new system requires his central striker to push hard from the front, but Aubameyang can’t do that at the moment.
“I think it’s just a way to get him more involved in the box,” Laurens told ESPN FC, as quoted by Express Sports.
“When you look at the statistics of the expected goals, you touch the opponent’s box, shots of course.
“If you don’t shoot, you won’t be able to score regardless of your expected goals.
“If he can’t shoot, if he doesn’t have the ball in the box, he can’t score.
“At the moment he cannot play centrally because he would have to chase the ball and press it all the time.
“This is what Arteta wants his # 9 to do, and Lacazette can, and I don’t think Aubameyang can, or it would be crazy to ask Aubameyang for a job like this. He can’t play in the middle.
“Arteta is not stupid, he would play it centrally if he thought he could and if he thought it would be better for the team.
“There’s a reason he plays left, not center.”
