Speaking on his weekly YouTube show, David Ornstein has explained that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was promised that Arsenal would be bringing in some creativity in the summer during his contract negotiations.
“During the Aubameyang contract extension negotiations, it was mentioned that Arsenal would be bringing in creativity, that came in the form of Willian, but that hasn’t gone to plan so far,” Ornstein said.
To say that it hasn’t gone to plan so far is perhaps the understatement of the year.
Willian has been abysmal since joining Arsenal, providing just one assist since his opening day flurry against Fulham, and he’s been lamented by pundits for his poor showings.
The fact that Arsenal promised Aubameyang creativity and brought in a 32-year-old winger on a free transfer to solve that problem perfectly highlights the issues at the Emirates at the moment.
The Gunners were looking for a cut-price solution, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the ageing winger has declined this season.
Again though, this harks back to a flaw in the system when it comes to getting the best out of Aubameyang.
The Gabonese forward is a pacy striker who is at his best when he’s getting in behind, while Willian is a winger who is doesn’t play those passes in behind.
The Brazilian averaged just 0.1 through balls per game last season. In comparison, he averaged 14-times more crosses per game at Chelsea in 2019/20, so it’s clear to see where most of his creativity comes from.
Aubameyang does need creativity behind him, yes, but he needs someone who can play those slide-draw passes, not a winger who will continuously cross to no avail.
Mikel Arteta has been an ardent defender of his cross-heavy tactics, but when your main source of goals is a man who has scored just three headers in three seasons at Arsenal, that may not be the best tactic.
Yes, Willian is a decent creator, after all, he got seven assists for Chelsea last term, but that’s when he had behemoths such as Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud to aim at in the box.
Arsenal have badly let Aubameyang down here, they promised him creativity, but they’ve ended up putting a square peg in a round hole by pairing a pacy striker who loves to get in behind with a winger who gets a lot of assists from crosses.
If only Arsenal had a player who could play those killer balls in behind, perhaps a World Cup winning midfielder who once put up 19 assists in a Premier League season would fit the bill.
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