Auba is Gunner strike gold again
Arteta backs star man to put a frustrating run behind him
MIKEL ARTETA believes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is “very close” to rediscovering his best form.
The Gunners captain has endured a frustrating season with just three goals in 16 league games. But Arteta believes he can see signs that Arsenal’s talisman and former Golden Boot winner is returning to his scoring ways.
Aubameyang found the net against Newcastle in the FA Cup last weekend but has scored just twice in the league since penning a mega new £250,000-a-week contract in September.
Arsenal manager Arteta said: “I think he’s very close, he’s better than he was a few weeks ago – he looks in a better place even emotionally.
“He was criticised when the team was not winning and it was hard for him, but now a lot of things are in a better place.
“There’s only one way to get form back, which is to keep looking after yourself, keep the motivation level, keep the spirit of the team high, which is why he is captain, why he is involved.
“He’s working hard. He scored a few days ago against Newcastle, he could have scored against Crystal Palace on Thursday and I’m sure he will score again.
“He’s always got a positive attitude, a smile, good banter around him. Auba has a charisma and he can handle this sort of situation.”
Arsenal desperately need his goals to get the season firing again as they struggle amid a punishing fixture schedule, with Kieran Tierney a doubt after a calf injury, and Pablo Mari out of the Newcastle game tonight.
But Arteta warned that many clubs will find the fixture pile-up difficult to manage.
He said: “The reality is that the fixtures are what they are and we didn’t have a pre-season, which is one of the reasons we wanted the five subs. But these are the consequences and this will happen more and more, and to more clubs.
“We will have to make changes but, when you are winning, you want to be in the team.
“The players also want to continue to play but it’s our responsibility to protect them.We could have taken a big risk with Kieran against Palace and it wasn’t the right one to take because we could have exposed him big time.”
Meanwhile Mesut Ozil’s 10-month nightmare at Arsenal is finally over as he headed to Turkey last night to sign for Fenerbahce.The £350,000-a-week midfielder has not played for the Gunners in almost a year since being frozen out by Arteta.