This time last year Arsenal were trying everything to force Mesut Ozil to agree to rip up his contract and/or accept a transfer.
The club had long regretted paying a salary over the odds for a player over the age of 30 who would have little resale value.
Banning the German from attending the FA Cup Final, not registering him in their squad, leaking out that he refused a pay cut, not backing him over his comments about how Muslims were treated in China …. the Gunners did everything legally they could do to make someone feel unwanted until he eventually gave in.
A year on, we have another player over the age of 30 on a wage that makes him hard to offload…..
………
There is nothing to doubt the truth that our captain has broken a club’s disciplinary policy and needs to be accountable for his actions.
Yet until his employers choose to reveal what the breach was and/or a refusal to apologise, I can’t help but feel yet again the priority is to slash the wage bill, and this gives Arteta a convenient excuse.
Bear in mind that Pepe is equally being frozen out and Lacazette is free to sign with a foreign club next month.
I refuse to believe our for-football reasons.
Former Gunners like Ian Wright and Martin Keown believe that the manager is making a mistake by prolonging the drama by extending Auba’s omission to this weekend.
If there’s a valid reason, then Arteta would be doing himself a favour by giving us more clarity, because long term he will be judged if this is another talent he has washed his hands of.
I believe a top coach gets the best out of the resources available to him, whereas ours has been allowed to wash his hands of talent.
The amount to be loaned out, released, paid to sit at home …. that list is getting too long.
So is the list of scapegoats our boss hides behind.
Bear in mind Auba was dropped after we lost 3 out of 4 fixtures.
I believe the Spaniard sacrificed his own credibility by pretending that Ozil being dropped was his own personal choice.
While many Gooners liked the idea of the manager supposedly having standards he wouldn’t tolerate not being met, finishing 8th meant the decision didn’t work. Indeed I’m still waiting for us to replace his creativity.
When your beating Southampton and West Ham at home your vindicated in your thought process. Long term we will get our answer.
4th could be up for grabs; it might just come down to the side who can put a consistent run together.
I maintain our best chances would be having a happy, confident, Aubameyang. That’s unless we have something up our sleeve in the transfer window.
I would like to see our manager show that he can work with an individual on the training pitch, put an arm round the shoulder and get the best out of a player.
Just giving up on him is not acceptable.
It’s all good talking about your non-negotiable standards, but that only means anything if you qualify for the Champions League.
Be Kind in The Comments
Dan
Arsenal are linked with yet another Brazilian CF called Yuri Alberto
Why don’t you give it a rest with those toxic accusations, you include in your articles.
There is no reason to claim this and that player are frozen out and nor to accuse the manager or the club to have other reasons than trying to do, what will produce the best results. Most of the accusations are without any prooof and as such are really just in your own imagination.
And why on earth should Arsenal get involved in Özil’s political agenda?? If Arsenal players generally were to issue political viewpoints on all that is wrong in this World, and the club was to take an official stand on everything outside football, the club would have to employ multiple political and communication experts. Leave that to the politicians.
Ozil and Sokratis were not registered for squads ?
Guendozi and Saliba were loaned out ?
Lacca contract is being run down ?
Pepe hasn’t played in over a month ?
What’s in my imagination?
What’s without proof ?
These are all facts
I agree with your stance on politics but Arsenal support other causes that are political
You not liking what you hear isn’t my issue
What you mention here are facts. But it is still nothing but a toxic invention, that the reasons for it is a suspect agenda. No proof for that, and that is the problem.
I have to agree. There is a very toxic agenda here which is being trotted out on an almost daily basis.
If players are not performing they go on the bench. If they don’t demonstrate that they deserve to get back in the team they get transferred when possible. Particularly, for younger players it is normal to loan them out if they are deemed to be unready or do not immediately fit in to the manager’s plans.
None of this would be considered unreasonable by most fans.
Not really
The comparison is being made by many outlets
Guendozi wasn’t loaned out because he was young
I think it’s okay to ask why a 72 million pound player can’t get off the bench ?
All article is asking is for manger to get the best out of Auba
Being a fan doesn’t mean you have to not question things
Especially when these decisions havnt worked for two seasons
Getting the best out of Auba might be futile if Martinelli carries on in this rich vein of form
I believe Arteta wants to offload him and uses exuse of disciplinary breach to frustrate player to look for another club to save on wages
No worries here.. Auba will bounce back.
👍
No mate
I give my opinions on arsenal news
I have woken up to some reports that he is training on own and might not even plau again till African Nations Cup .
I think it’s fair to question why so many players have fallen out or been dropped by one manager ?
Because he can’t manager players with strong personalities or egos, it conflicts with his ego.
He obviously learned nothing from Wenger’s man management of players with egos.
Wenger maximized Alexis Sanchez’s talent, but I believe Arteta would likely have frozen him out based on his track record with players.
Top 6 or sacked, excuses will no longer work after 2 1/2 years, 12 new players, and well over £200 million spent.
I’m not anti-Arteta, I’m just for Arsenal first, over managers and players. Time Arteta held himself to the standards he wants from players.
JamesO, I’ll willingly bet you very substantial money- you can choose the amount- that Auba will not “bounce back” by becoming a regular first team choice ever again. He is clearly yesterdays man but some choose not to notice that.
MARTINELLI HAS ALREADY TAKEN HIS SPOT AND THAT WILL NOT CHANGE, other than through MARTINELLI BEING INJURED.
Even IF that happens, is is clear to me that Auba is finished as first choice and that the club definitely want him gone and will be doing all in their power to move him on, at the very latest , by next summer. I believe the club are actively seeking a new imported striker in JAN if possible but definitely by next summer.
It is entirely possible that Auba may play again, though only pro temp but his days as a regular are now gone. Bet against me if you dare!
According to reports, Auba isn’t training with the squad and won’t be playing before he leaves to join up with the Gabon squad in January, so the earliest we might see him is after AFCON.
MA resolved the situation with ozil, not UE. He has taken swift action now and its just his role as manager to implement the club values.
The rest is down to the players attitude and approach. Personally Auba is struggling to reach his peak under the current structure because he is use to working under conditions that allow him to be ‘as and when’ he wants and he knows what he must do, hit 20+ goals and all is OK.
But things are different now, we need a team fighting together with the same values and objectives. This is all that matters currently because of where we are as a club
Starting to look like the Guendouzi situation. I supported Arteta 100% when he punished Guendouzi. But I began to feel that he went over the top as it started having the look of being a grudge. Vocally, I supported Arteta on this Aubameyang’s issue and even on JA(with a previous comment of mine). But it’s beginning to look like he’s scapegoating Aubameyang. Left him out of matches, took the armband, banished him from first team training and then ostracizing him until after AFCON. I certainly do not have detailed inside information but what I know for sure is that there’s something we’re not being told
Your friend Ozil had nothing to say about the human rights abuses of his Turkish dictator’s practices but that of China and wanted Arsenal to support him? Why not seek support from his Muslim brothers in the Arab world?
Make no reference of Ozil. Ozil is crap and has been so with his ‘biggest’ club Fernabache.
A lot of players are so comfortable especially those brought in by Wenger in his later years and corrupt Raul Sanhelli
We’ve got to get rid of those arrogant players before Arsenal can move forward.
Players like Guendozi has no place here
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
The truth is, if we finish inside top 4 Arteta will be vindicated for all his actions this season. If we dont then he isn’t up to the job, he makes enemies very quickly with his players and doesn’t manage very well but if it works GREAT. If not it should be Goodbye Mikel!
100 percent
He finishes top 4 hes vindicated
Arteta made his decision, so now he has to live with it and accept the consequences. Just put an end to the excuses, if Auba is out then Arteta needs to ensure the team picks up the slack.
One thing I simply can’t believe is his inclusion of Nketiah. Trying to convince anyone Nketiah is a better selection off the bench than Pepe is just wrong.
Nketiah has shown nothing, and the talk about “training ground” means little, it doesn’t guarantee it translates to the pitch on match day.
Pepe had decent stats last year, but Arteta acts as if Pepe had Willian-like stats. Nketiah on the wings over Pepe is a poor choice; looks petty and vindictive, full stop trying to convince anyone Nketiah is more than an U-23 player.
The same Pepe that y’all kept complaining about, or another Pepe?
Arteta just can’t satisfy some of you, even if Arsenal were allowed to field 22 players at a time and Arteta fields every single player, y’all would still find something to complain about.
I haven’t complained about Pepe this year my friend, check yourself before lumping me in with everyone.
It’s about standards and meeting them. I felt the same about Wenger and Emery after their 18 months.
You see now? We simply can’t accept mediocrity, whether under Wenger, Emery, or Arteta.
You harm not help by excusing things, don’t be an enabler by excusing mediocrity. Maintaining standards helps, try it sometime.
I have never complained about Pepe, in fact he has had a raw deal under Arteta.
Arteta has shown he thinks highly of Auba by continuing to play him at the expense of Martinelli and Pepe, when his form was abysmal.He has rightly been dropped after his latest misdemenour but I expect him to be included in the team pool after the Leeds game.Much ado about nothing.Players are dropped or “rested” by every team, every week but if course because of his high profile and the fact that he was our Club captain, the media latch on to his situation as though it was a matter of vital importance, which of course, it is not.I sincerely hope Auba buckles down, regains form and makes a major contribution on his reappearance.
And when he was doing that, same persons constantly wanted Arteta to drop Auba. Now they are angry he has been dropped.
I don’t just understand what some fans want.
You have definitely lost your form as your your writing has declined tremendously! You are definitely experiencing a writer’s block and so resorted to stale tactics to draw traffic to your articles (kudos to you). I am sure you will ask me for proof? But think twice before you do. Well, if you do need proof, check out the number of subscribers on JA’s YouTube channel. You are just too toxic to draw subscribers to the channel, which now reflects in your recent articles. You seem unhappy that the team is doing well, and our failure brings you joy because it suits your negative thoughts. You will do well to change, well, that’s if it matters to JA.
Realists know that what matters concerning Auba is whether or not we play better with or withoit him.
On that importantly realistic basis, we are plainly playing far better without him and whatever nonsense Dan writes , fans wilL in thr end be win round by successful football.
Or , if we fail they will criticise. Auba is yesterdays man and quite rightly the club will be trying to get him off the books. I applaud that as a sensible move.
But then I WOULD SAY THAT , because I ALWAYS AND WITHOUT A SINGLE EXCEPTION PUT THE TEAM ABOVE ANY INDIVIDUAL NO MATTER WHOM.
Some, however, prefer the individual to the club they profess to support. I scorn their MUDDLED, wrong “thinking”