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‘Like playing with 10 men’: £250k-a-week Arsenal star’s attitude criticised by pundit
A return of nine goals in 25 Premier League appearances this season is not quite what’s expected of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but a failure to find form in front of goal isn’t the only deficiency in his game right now.
According to Darren Bent, when the striker isn’t scoring he’s essentially an empty jersey.
With Aubameyang missing, Mikel Arteta’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
Two of the goals came from Alexandre Lacazaette, and Darren Bent has cited his performance as an example of Arsenal being more effective without their captain.
Aubameyang signed a contract extension earlier this season, and is reportedly on £250,000 per week.
Speaking on, former Tottenham and Aston Villa striker Bent said: “I don’t think we’ve seen that Aubameyang this season. Maybe the first game of the season against Fulham we saw it, when he was sensational, but he still hadn’t signed the contract yet.
“But in terms of going forward and Arsenal at the minute, there’s times where if he hasn’t scored, he’s like a passenger.
“At times they’re playing with 10 men. One thing about Lacazette you know you’ll get from him is, yeah, he might not score the same amount of goals that Aubameyang scores, but I think he offers a lot more in terms of his hold-up play, brings people into the game.
“And this season, certainly at the weekend, two great goals that he scored.
“So i think at times Arsenal do look better without him, and that’s not how a captain should be, because a captain should be virtually undroppable in terms of attitude, and even if they’re not playing well, they’re still working hard for the team.
“And you’d still go ‘Well, even thought he’s not having the best of his games, he’s still got an influence on the rest of the team.
“I feel lie at times where Aubameyang’s the captain, but they’re still sometimes playing with 10 men.”
Arsenal return to European action on Thursday, when they take on Slavia Prague in their Europa League quarter-final second leg.
The Czech side scored a late away goal to make it 1-1 in last week’s first leg.