Graham Potter has urged Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to “keep doing what he’s doing” after his latest Chelsea absence in Saturday’s defeat against Southampton.
It was yet another game to forget this afternoon for the Blues, losing 1-0 at home to the Saints in the Premier League.
James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick clinched all three points for Southampton, who are still sat at the bottom of the table. Incidentally, it means they’ve completed a league double over Chelsea this season.
Ruben Selles enjoyed the dream start to life as Southampton’s temporary boss. In contrast, Potter is now really under the pressure after a turbulent five months as the Blues head coach.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang questioning
It’s no real surprise that Potter was quizzed about Aubameyang in his post-match press conference following the loss to Southampton.
The 33-year-old striker was left out of the matchday squad for the third consecutive league match. It’s quite remarkable that Chelsea have scored just once in that time.
When asked about Aubameyang’s latest absence, Potter said (Football London): “I would say keep doing what he’s doing. We had Kai [Havertz[ and Raheem [Sterling] coming on but when you don’t score – when you’re creating chances – I understand the question.”
Potter continues to leave the door open for Aubameyang’s return with his comments in the media, but are we actually going to see the centre-forward back on the pitch this season?
In our view, there’s a strong case to say he should be in the XI next weekend against Tottenham. At the very least he should be in the matchday squad as a genuine No.9 that can score goals inside the penalty box.
It’s hard to tell where the next goal is going to come from for the Blues and there’s a proper striker out in the cold.
Yes, Aubameyang didn’t look at his sharpest or most clinical in the first half of the season. Surely he won’t do any worse in the side right now, though.
Chelsea are creating chances, especially in the midweek defeat to Borussia Dortmund, so Potter needs to swallow his pride and recall Aubameyang.
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