Another game, and another goal....actually two. The compelling dramatic story of speedy winger, turned deadly finisher continues to unfold for Pierre. Dortmund are definitely playing some of the best attacking football that you will see and are a team that I would love to play in if I still had the strength and zest in my legs. As good as the whole team are, there is no doubt that one of their standout artists has to be Aubameyang. His goalscoring run has been damn impressive, and this guy is really putting in a strong argument to be in the same bracket as Lewandowski, Aguero and the Cannibal.
I have actually been watching how Aubameyang has changed his game ever since getting signed by Klopp, and the similarities to Henry are quite interesting. Starting off, he was just all speed just like Henry. An extremely quick player who used his one asset to get past players to cross in the ball. In short, he was merely a weapon. A potent one, but in the sport of football where it's about your skill, no matter how fast you are, there is always a strategy for stopping you. And that is what began to happen once people knew how to defend the speed of Aubameyang.
By simply restricting the space in which he had to run into, and forcing him into the corner, this meant he now had to dribble and manoeuvre his way out of tight spots. Something he just wasn't able to do. So thus, people began to criticize him. Saying all he has is his speed, and once you take that advantage away from him, then he offers nothing for the team. People were absolutely right. He hasn't been known for great skill in the ball, with an imagination of getting past players who try and run him into a corner. He knew that he had to make a change in order to evolve from being just a weapon, to something defenders would find hard to stop.
And so, a finisher was born.
What I believe Aubameyang went on the training pitch to train hard at was his shooting. Klopp and he both realized that there needed be more to his game than just being quick. So gradually, rather than trying to always give the ball to Lewandowski or Reus, he started to take shots of his own, or make runs into the box to try himself against the keeper. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. But the important thing was there was now a new dynamic to his game. He was no longer limited and predictable, but now a player who could either beat you for speed to cross, or present another attacking problem for the opponent.
I don't know what Tuchel has fed his players, especially Aubameyang, but this season has been unlike any other for the Gabonese. Apart from his goalscoring streak, he is just a total freak in front of goal. The amount of shots he is attempting. how accurate they are and just his greater understanding of the runs to make is amazing to see. The kid has successfully moved from being a winger to an attacking wide-player/striker. He's made such an improvement from previous seasons which has lead more and more clubs taking notice of this incredible finisher. That's why you have to think of Henry when you think of him.
Henry was a pretty good winger, but he was really all about the speed. Then Wenger, in his greatest piece of management, saw something in him that was more than just being Speedy Gonzalez's long lost twin, and turned him into an all-round striker, similar to Lewandowski. So he could now shoot, dribble, create, and bring in his other teammates into the game. I'm hoping this will be a similar trajectory for Aubameyang and he too can define how Dortmund play by expanding his game to be much smarter and aware of others on the pitch, in the way Henry's Arsenal game was.
Thus, the Aubameyang story continues....
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