Sky wrote:
Their 14.6 per cent shot conversion rate puts them 12th. Arsenal scored roughly eight goals fewer than they should have, based on the quality of chances they created.
This is why I'm (cautiously) optimistic too. Add the right striker and central midfielder to this squad and we're going to improve further. There's no reason beyond a possible crisis of morale or unity to expect that any young player turning out for us in 21–22 won't produce the same or better in 22–23.
Fix the productivity issue, and fix the way we respond to losses and setbacks, and we can shoot for a 75 or 80 point season next year. We have growth in the squad even as it stands.
There will never be a satisfying resolution to the question of how Aubameyang left Arsenal, but the notion that it was a one-sided affair or that Auba's form at Barcelona was in any way reflected in his 21–22 on-field performances for Arsenal is quite misplaced.
I don't have great regrets about the manner of his departure, which would be occurring now if it hadn't in winter, but it was dumb not to have more than one option lined up as a replacement in January. To me the brittle and ultimately fruitless Vlahovic pursuit was a much bigger failure than the way things unfolded with Aubameyang, which is persistently reframed in an incredibly one-sided manner by a lot of OMITT posters—as if we haven't had issues with our stars over the past few years, and as if the contract we awarded Aubameyang wasn't an error just like the one we awarded Özil.Â
