After last season’s woes, Arsenal were set to be reborn in Unai Emery’s image with club legend Arsene Wenger leaving the side he led for 22 years after much furor from the team’s fans amid poor performances throughout the course of the campaign.

The former PSG tactician was heralded as Arsenal’s saviour with fans and pundits alike backing him to return the Gunners to the Champions League this term either through winning the Europa League or clinching a top four spot, but at the moment things aren’t looking good for Arsenal regarding the latter as they’ve failed to truly impress three games into the 2018/19 season.

Defensively, Arsenal have been below par with their back four seemingly incapable of maintaining a solid shape whilst trying to withstand a high press, the team’s attack has also been one-dimensional with the Gunners almost always opting to attack from the flanks and throw in a cross, or a cut back.

Their dependence on flank-attacks to find the back of the net this season has, and could continue to limit Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goalscoring opportunities given he’s shown no signs of thriving under Emery’s current set-up.

Whilst it’s easy to dismiss Arsenal’s poor start as ‘unlucky’ due to the fact that they faced Manchester City and Chelsea respectively in their first two games of the season, they lacked real invention against both sides which was symptomatic of their lack of variety in their attacking patterns.

More often than not, Hector Bellerin would run down the right flank to cut the ball back or whip in a cross, on the left flank, you’d often find Nacho Monreal doing the same thing. Arsenal’s reliance on that sort of play doesn’t give Aubameyang an opportunity to utilise his speed and get in behind with the 29-year-old having to position him self for a tap-in or a lay-off like any other Arsenal player waiting in the box.

Unai Emery’s men managed to get their first three points of the season last time out against West Ham in a game where, yet again, Aubameyang failed to get his name on the scoresheet due in large part to the teams modus oprandi going forward.

Back when he played for Dortmund, Aubameyang was the joyful recipient of a variety of through balls through the middle which enabled him to utilise his blistering pace – a range of crosses; both early and late, which allowed him to make tremendous use of his height – he was also able receive the ball with his back to goal and utilise his superb dribbling skills to turn away from his markers and get a shot on goal – a stark contrast to his time at Arsenal thus far.

As things stand Aubameyang is not a great option to have as a striker in your fantasy team simply because he cannot get a decent amount of clear cut chances per game in Arsenal’s current system.

Arsenal would need to consistently play through all areas of the pitch for Aubameyang to start firing on all cylinders.

Unai Emery may make use a different approach in Arsenal’s upcoming tie against Cardiff in a bid to find their way past what is sure to be a sturdy defensive set-up. Neil Warnock’s men are likely to sit deep and hit Arsenal on the counter should they get an opportunity to do so, hence, a victory against them will require Arsenal to be creative in the final third.

There’s a lot of pressure on Arsenal to get their second win of the season due to the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City already widening the gap between them and the rest of the league, but should Aubameyang start bagging goals on a consistent basis, the Gunners will be able to climb up the table.

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