Tim Sherwood thinks Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not fully fit after watching him play last night against Red Bull Salzburg.
Chelsea ended up recording a 1-1 draw on Wednesday against Austrian champions Salzburg, which means there’s a lot of work to be done still in the remainder of the Champions League group stages.
Raheem Sterling’s opening goal put the Blues ahead during Graham Potter’s first game in charge since his appointment as the club’s new head coach. However, visitors Salzburg grabbed a point at Stamford Bridge through Noah Okafor’s deflected equaliser.
Aubameyang is not fit
Sky Sports pundit Sherwood has made the interesting claim that Aubameyang didn’t look fit to him.
The centre-forward started and played until the 66th minute, but couldn’t quite carve out that golden goalscoring opportunity.
“I don’t think Aubameyang is fit. But we know he is a proven goalscorer in the Premier League and Chelsea certainly need a centre-forward,” Sherwood told Sky Sports.
In fairness, Aubameyang has worn a face mask to protect a broken jaw during his first two Chelsea appearances.
The 33-year-old striker is going to bring the kind of predatory movement in the attacking box that the Blues need, but it’s understandable that he’s still fighting to get up to full match sharpness.
Aubameyang’s obviously able enough to start football matches. He’s nowhere near his fluent best yet, though.
With Chelsea not playing again until 1 October, the attacker’s actually got an ideal time to work on his fitness and to continue healing from his jaw problem.
There are definitely glimpses of what he can do in the forward line, and he must be encouraged by the fact that Potter selected him during his first match in charge. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink thinks Potter will love working with the experienced striker.
However, the lively cameo appearances this season from young striker Armando Broja shows how desperate he is to get into the starting line-up.
Aubameyang and Broja could be superb competition for each other moving forward this season.
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