“He’s the person who makes us play well”, how Aubameyang won over Gasset and OM

After a start to the season marked by his lack of efficiency, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continues to score goals with OM, who meet Rennes on Sunday.

It was not the Mistral that was blowing over the Old Port when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived in the summer of 2023 at Olympique de Marseille, but a slight wind of skepticism. At 34, the Gabonese then had the difficult task of replacing Alexis Sanchez, who had capsized the heart of the Vélodrome. It’s been a long start, but the striker has returned to high standards, with 23 goals scored and nine assists this season. before the match against Rennes on Sunday March 17.

Alexis Sanchez is perhaps not yet completely forgotten, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has overtaken him, in statistics at least, since the Chilean, who left for Inter Milan, had scored “only” 18 goals in all competitions. last season. Still discreet after ten days of the championship, the striker scored his first goal against Le Havre on October 8. “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“, recognized the player, at the Prime Video microphone. Promised, due.

The former Arsenal, Dortmund and Barcelona player never stops scoring. Over the past month, the pace has become downright frenetic: a goal against Shakhtar Donetsk, a double against Montpellier, another goal against Clermont then two new doubles in quick succession against Villarreal and Nantes. The machine, which seemed a little rusty, is now working at full capacity.

“THE player” of the squad

It was a hat-trick against Ajax on December 1 that revived the striker. Taken into confidence by his successive coaches, especially Gennaro Gattuso then Jean-Louis Gasset, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang almost saved the furniture single-handedly. Almost, because he did not manage to get his team out of the general slump in which OM drowned at the start of 2024, and which led to the dismissal of the Italian. But since the arrival of Jean-Louis Gasset, the striker has been on cloud nine and has shown great consistency.

Difficult to say if “PEA” is the “great striker” that OM has been waiting for for years, as this superlative is now surrounded by a sort of curse on the Canebière side (after Benedetto, Mitroglou, Milik…). But “‘Auba’ is THE player. In every team, there is THE player. You put him where he likes to be and then you build the team aroundsummarized Gasset after the victory against Nantes (2-0) on March 10. He’s the person who makes us play well, who scores the goals and who comes back to work if necessary. It’s generosity itself. I repeat, he is THE player in the squad.“

The player in the squad who must be put in good conditions: Jean-Louis Gasset understood this well, Gennaro Gattuso before him too, since the two coaches had abandoned Marcelino’s two-pointed attack. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is systematically established alone up front, with Ismaïla Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Amine Harit and Azzedine Ounahi in support.

Jean-Louis Gasset greatly contributed to restoring confidence in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Less with words than by putting it in its ideal conditions on the ground: “We just had to prop him up where he likes to be. (…) This is the knowledge of the player, I have known him for a long time. (…) With players like that, there is less need to talk than with a young player. (…) In one work session, he saw that I knew him by heart.”

With our sights set on the 32 goals in all competitions of Didier Drogba, top Olympian scorer in the 21st century in his only season with OM 2003-2004? Unlike the Ivorian, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 34, signed for three seasons at OM. Three times more likely to beat him.