At 34, the former Arsenal and FC Barcelona striker has only scored once in nine Ligue 1 games with Marseille.
Landed this summer in the Old Port, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is slow to find his cruising speed in the Marseille city. After ten days of Ligue 1, the Gabonese, who had the heyday of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and FC Barcelona, has scored only one goal in the league, against Le Havre on October 8, at the Vélodrome. . “This goal was strong, but I am not satisfied with current things. I know I could be a lot more goals away. I always want to do better, I know that I am capable of doing much better”has since recognized the player, at the microphone of Prime Video.
At the age of 34, the man who was top scorer in the Bundesliga (2017) and the Premier League (2019) is currently not meeting expectations at OM, where he has the difficult task of succeeding Alexis Sanchez and his 18 goals in all competitions last season. Only once a scorer in the league, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nevertheless creates chances. He thus displays 4.5 xG (for expected goals, or expected goals in French) in Ligue 1, the best total behind Kylian Mbappé (6.9 xG, for 8 goals). This statistical tool, which makes it possible to measure the probability that a shot will be converted into a goal, thus highlights the Gabonese’s difficulties.
A place to find
“No matter what happens, you have to stay positive, whether in football or outside of it.”, reassured the main interested party at the Prime Video microphone. Although he still appears smiling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang knows he is expected. “He has this ability to remain confident, but be careful of his sensitivity. He’s more reserved than you think, he’s not a plate breaker, he can have doubts.”testifies Alain Giresse, who launched it in the Gabon national team in 2009 and who also experienced the pressure of playing for OM, “A striker, he manages these bad passes on his own. ‘Aubam’ is sufficiently armed to get out.”
“Mentally, in Marseille, you have to be strong. I can confirm it to you! The public can restrict the possibilities, stifle a player. But conversely, they can make your task easier, transport you if you show them that you are giving everything .”
Alain Giresse, OM player from 1986 to 1988at franceinfo: sport
Fortunately for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, he shone a little more in the European Cup, with four goals in five games. “These are still performances which demonstrate that he integrated quickly”, reassures Rolland Courbis. The former OM defender and coach tempers: “After around ten matches, we expected better, yes, but the first assessment, let’s do it at the winter break. You will see that by then, he will have boosted his stats, because he will have made his mark with his new coach He had three in three months at OM [Marcelino, l’intérimaire Jacques Abardonado, puis Gennaro Gattuso] !”
The instability on the Olympique de Marseille bench did not make Aubameyang’s acclimatization easier. While the Spaniard Marcelino favored a two-striker system, his Italian successor Gennaro Gattuso opted for a 4-2-3-1. A system which better corresponds to the qualities of the player, according to Alain Giresse: “I don’t see him playing with two attackers. It must be a point and the players around it must use its movements and serve it in its movements. He’s not a support player. ‘Aubam’, he is not there to score, but to score.”
Finding the rhythm again after an almost blank season
In this sense, the Gabonese therefore displays a radically different profile from that of his Marseille predecessor, Alexis Sanchez. But according to Alain Giresse, OM’s tactical errors at the start of the season do not explain everything. To understand Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s poor form, we also have to go back in time a little. Arriving at Chelsea in the summer of 2022, the striker played very little there (five starts in the league) after the early departure of Thomas Tuchel, the coach behind his arrival.
“He is a player who is always in demand for the ball, in depth, he provides solutions through his runs. Which requires optimal physical condition and a rhythm that he must find again after this blank season at Chelsea.”
Alain Giresseat franceinfo: sport
Despite his poor performance, the Gabonese retains the confidence of Gennaro Gattuso, who has systematically started him in Ligue 1 since his arrival. His competitor, Vitinha, is not much more successful, with two achievements in the league and one in the European Cup. On this point, Jean-Pierre Papin, advisor to President Pablo Longoria, assures that the two attackers are “extremely complicit” and that the competition “helps them to surpass themselves and reach milestones”. For the 1991 Ballon d’Or, the best way to regain confidence remains training, where “you have to score goals, which helps you score quickly again in competition”.