Former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still ‘the goalscorer’ as he equals a tally set by Premier League icon Didier Drogba at French giants Marseille.
After that ill-fated spell at Chelsea, and following a sluggish start to life on the other side of the Channel, the doubters were drawing up their eulogies and ready to give Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s top-level career the Last Rites.
But rumours of the veteran poacher’s demise, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated.
A hat-trick against Ajax in November lit a fire under the former Arsenal striker’s Marseille career, and he hasn’t looked back since. Aubameyang hit the net for a fifth successive game on Sunday – notching a third brace in that stunning run against Nantes – while taking his tally to 23 goals from 37 appearances for the French giants.
The former Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund speedster is now the first Marseille player to score a minimum of 23 goals in his debut OM season since a certain Didier Drogba achieved the feat two decades back.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back to his best
“He is the goalscorer. The player of the team,” Jean-Louis Gasset, Marseille’s new coach, tells Amazon Prime of his soon-to-be 35-year-old talisman.
“There is one in every team. In every team in the world, there is a player that makes the difference.”
And Marseille’s is undoubtedly Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Gasset, who replaced Gennaro Gattuso recently to become the club’s third head coach this season, is constructing a system with getting the best out of his veteran number ten in mind, keen to reduce the demands on Aubameyang while keeping him fresh and fit to ‘make the difference’ when the opportunity arrives.
“We have to protect him and put him in the right places to allow him to keep his energy to make the difference,” Gasset adds. “I knew him, I spoke with friends who had coached him. I knew where he liked to play, and the positions that he liked to move into.
“He is the player, and you then build the team around him.”
Former Arsenal captain matches Didier Drogba
After netting only three goals at Chelsea – Stamford Bridge turning into a something of a graveyard for top-level talents – 2023/24 is already the most prolific season of Aubameyang’s career since he hit 29 for Arsenal back in 2019/20.
No player has scored more than his nine, meanwhile, in this term’s Europa League.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are hoping to keep their European adventure alive. Mikel Arteta’s side need to win by two clear goals to see off FC Porto in the Champions League last-16 second-leg at the Emirates.
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