Garth Crooks has questioned whether Mikel Arteta can leave someone of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ‘class’ on the bench for Arsenal, as he told BBC Sport.
Over the weekend, Aubameyang started on the bench as Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park.
Given the form of Nicolas Pepe heading into Saturday’s showdown against Dean Smith’s men, it seemed as though Arteta picked the left-footed winger ahead of Aubameyang.
Well, former Spurs striker Crooks thinks Arsenal cannot afford to start Pepe and leave their currently goal-shy striker on the bench.
“I know Nicolas Pepe scored against Wolves last week,” said Crooks.
“But can Arsenal really afford to leave someone of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s class on the bench? I don’t think so.
“Having got his team back on track with some decent results, Mikel Arteta’s meddling again.”
Last season, Aubameyang was a shoo-in for Arsenal and the first-name on the teamsheet.
But, for this current campaign alone, there isn’t much evidence to back-up the £56m Arsenal hitman (BBC Sport) starting because he only has five Premier League goals to his name.
Pepe has actually shown huge improvements in recent weeks and is someone who is growing as an individual out on that left-hand side.
Plus, when Aubameyang did come on at Villa Park on Saturday, he didn’t do much in regards to making the ball talk.
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