Souness has hit out at what Aubameyang said after yesterday’s game.
Pundit Graeme Souness has hit out at Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the comments he made after our 4-0 win over Newcastle on Sunday.
The Gabon international scored the opening goal in a morale-boosting victory at the Emirates Stadium, and put in a generally fine display as the team really clicked into gear and showed what they could become under new manager Mikel Arteta.
Aubameyang suggested afterwards that Arteta has improved the situation at Arsenal, as he made it clear he and his team-mates understand what they’re supposed to be doing now.
It’s perhaps little surprise that these comments didn’t go down well with an old school pundit like Souness, who believes players should at least have a rough idea of what they’re doing anyway.
‘What’s having an understanding with a manager got to do with anything?’ Souness said on Sky Sports, as quoted by the Metro. ‘I don’t like that. I don’t like players talking like that. You know what you have to do. Okay, there’s one young player and one senior player there, Aubameyang I think he’s 31. I don’t like players talking like that. You know, you learn.’
He continued: ‘When you get to a certain age you know what you have to do to be successful at this level. You have to run around with enthusiasm, you have to be aggressive, you don’t give the ball away cheaply.
‘You attack things in an aggressive manner – and I’m not talking about going around fouling – just everything about Arsenal in the first half was passive. In the second half they became more aggressive, played with more passion. And to succeed at this level you must have all those ingredients. And then when you lose the ball you sprint back into your position. You get goal-side as quickly as you can, the basic things. Get first to the ball.
‘I get fed up hearing “tactics, tactics, tactics”. The first thing you have to get right: you have to have the ball. So to get the ball you have to get to it first, and then you’re in possession, and then a bit of team shape, team play, comes into action.
‘But to hear people say “we now know what we’re doing”, I’m not accepting that. For a 31-year-old to say “yeah it’s now clear, we now know what we’re doing”, I am not accepting that. He knows what he has to do to be successful. He’d have known that six, seven, eight years ago.’
While there may be some truth to this, Souness should probably consider that he both played and managed in very different eras, and tactics have arguably become more sophisticated and varied in the modern era, meaning players will understand and adapt better to some systems than others.
Without question senior players should know what they are doing but the buck stops with the boss. They carry out his instructions on the pitch whether or not the players agree. Not carrying them out is mutinous.
There are enough managers who have lost the dressing room over the years and this is what happens when respect is lost. Players play and managers manage and if managers get that right then the Aubameyangs of this world can strut their stuff
Souness should go and rest!
Isn’t it obvious Arsenal is playing with more intent & better irrespective the words of Auba n those draws that undermined the teams efforts?
There ain’t much he likes bar the car jackers is there??!!
Sue, you are awful!!!!😂😂😂😂
🤣
Let’s win 5 next games and we can start seeing a change. But he is not saying anything new, the level of commitment of a player has nothing to do with tac tic which is another subject.
When you put 2 DMs on pitch instruct them to do so, they will defend all game long. But it is no transition from middle to attacking play, nor way to combine.
If there’s no ball played forward, we under threat, opponent plays in our half, our attacking players obliged to chase their men down….
In first half, Ceballos was too focus in defending, as opposed to play, run & combine going forward.
Arteta he had obviously more attacking team and of course asked them to defend well too.
That’s tac tic, but he had to tell to Ceballos to not just focus in defending, come from deeper, run & combined forward. Allows Ozil to get more balls and do his magic.
To play such a team shows plan to score lots of goals, but players must understand what is precisly asked for.
You can see in first half was not going as plan, because of that middle not in place & control. One player can change the all dynamic if he doesn’t get what he is asked for.
Auba or other players refferng to understand what is asked is doesn’t mean they don’t know what they do but
how they fit in tac tic or plan.
Same players on pitch but 2 different halves tells somehing was corrected in middle; Ceballos not leaning as much into defending (almost costing goal) but run, combine, playing forward; in the other half.
In first half, we would rate players between 4 to 7, in second from 6 to 9; Ceballos allowed us to play forward by rectifying his game to fit allow tac tic to function.
Now I think this guy loves Arsenal, he is a bit hard, scared to see us draw next games. No I think Arteta finally got that he must not have 2 DMs.
To add a DM at 80th minute is find, we have game in control and loads of attacking threats still.
Not so easy to get right balance, if Ceballos leans a bit too much into defending, playing in his half with Xhaka doing so as well, our game & teams do just that.
Must of course also defend, add numbers when opponents does so, but focus on playing & combining forward. His position is key, Xhaka defends and can focus doing so, as Ozil on attacking end, the 3rd midfield is key to display our game. Niles and Willock are good in that role because B2Bs. Ceballos holds and controls midfield. Really upon game plan, but as long as we play one DM, any of these players work fine; we have options.
I’m sure Arteta got it now ! With a draw he would derserve a 6, but a 9 in second half, and overall because he had Ceballos make that very tight adjustment to allow to display our game, attacking team!
i actual like Souness up until last season he always said “if your a neutral Arsenal is the best exiting matches to watch” and he speak’s the truth the way he sees it, i think his right in what he said last night and some of his comments was taken out of context
Souness is right we may not like it because he is old school and says it as it is but the senior players are and have let us down badly. Sometimes their attitude on the pitch has been awful, under wenger and Emery. They think showing their slapped arse face means they care but it doesn’t, it means your attitude is suspect and it is, that is why we are mid table.
Lol Sourness the great player but unbelievably terrible manager hates Arsenal, he is so mad they we won…..
Disagree, he doesn’t hate Arsenal, he has always says good and bad things about us and he is often right on both accounts. I have never thought he didn’t like Arsenal especially, in fact i thought the opposite.
Reggie I totally agree
So they haven’t behaved maturely but who sends out the team Reggie? I described not following the manager’s instructions as mutinous. I stand by that as the manager he sends out the team to play to his instructions. The big IF is if the senior players see beyond what they are being asked to do. Spoilt they are but winning is what they want. I’m afraid to repeat what has already been said but Souness as great a player as he was didn’t cut it as a manager. Perhaps he needed the manager to direct him
Sue, im not sure this is about how good Souness was as a manager, he wasn’t but has a player and the knowledge he has, his opinion is first class. What he is saying is correct, we have some players with really dodgy attitudes, we all have been saying it and he has better knowledge than us. What i like and what he likes is players who go out and give it everything they have, if they do that their individual qualities will shine through. We have a few who dont, when the going gets a bit tough. I think a few of these players have let Arsenal down and made excuses, that is not good.
Reggie. I couldn’t agree more but an individual ordinarily can’t win a game single handed. Aubameyang and others are supposed to be part of a team. He as captain can encourage but ultimately the manager decides how the match is contested and with his tactics employed. Aubameyang can’t just go off on a tangent.
I’d like to think that all of the team gave it their all but part of me thinks that if you are hitting your head up against a brick wall .. your head hurts and you (sadly) give up a wee bit
Sue, its easy to blame someone else and not yourself and some of our players seened to fashion a scapegoat too often. Tactics were not the only reason we failed to win games and lost games we should have won. Im not buying this mentality of its someone elses fault. When they go on a run and show us a different attitude and finish 4th or 5th this season, i may buy it but i dont see it.
Auba means the whole team know what they are doing not just himself. As a unit. Why is souness so bitter and miserable all the time?
When you have Emery the mighty mouse squeaking at you from the sideline all game and not understanding his sign language then it causes distraction. They end up standing there thinking what the heck is this guy trying to tell me..?
Constant confusion during the game was what was happening with Emery. Not just players but everyone watching too. There is nothing wrong with Auba saying that NOW these instructions are clear. His managers instructions, which who Auba is praising. Nothing to do with himself understanding what he has to do as a footballer Souness you buffoon.
I do think though, that the players and fans need to forget Emery and what he done. Move on and stop bringing him into conversation as he is irrelevant now.
Bitter old fool just do everybody a favour and retire already.
Souness is a poor manager who I don’t care what he says about managing a team.
Even when Auba doesn’t understand what the manager tactics his, he still do his job by scoring goals and been up there which souness refuse to see but criticise out of jealousy.
Playing your part as Auba does doesn’t mean you’re happy with the direction.
Laca went 9 games without a win but he was much happy with the set up of the team more than his scoring days under Emery(not jst happy with his draught).
Souness been blind to this is the reason he wasn’t successful as manager cos he shows with his words that, his player should know what to do without showing them the way.
He’s forgotten he was a good player cos he has a good manager mentoring him.
It is wrong of Souness to criticise Auba. All the players played well and followed the instructions of MA. Auba was just speaking his mind and there is no reason Souness should come down on him in such a hard way. Auba was just expressing his thoughts and his happiness.