Mikel Arteta has warned Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that he is not guaranteed to come back into the first-team after being dropped against Tottenham.
The 32 year-old is believed to have turned up late to the matchday squad, an incident which was not an isolated, and found himself left out against our rivals on Sunday.
He later left the stadium instead of celebrating the win with his team-mates, but is believed to have turned up to training with a better attitude.
Arteta spoke to the press ahead of Thursday’s clash with Olympiacos, and was asked about the situation.
The Spaniard insisted that the issue was dealt with in a ‘positive way’, before stating that he wasn’t guaranteed to come straight back into his side.
Arteta responded (via Arsenal.com): “No, everybody has to obviously perform at the highest level to earn their place in the team, there is no exception there and we will try to put a really competitive team out tomorrow to try to win again.”
The team earned a deserved win over Spurs without the striker, but we are obviously better with him back in the side, but I still agree that Arteta was right to make his point.
Do you expect Aubameyang to start one of our next two matches before the international break?
Patrick
I do not agree that we are ‘obviously better’ with him. Unless gearing down on a thru ball he contributes nothing to the team. No tackles, presses, tracking back. His passing is poor. He cant hold up play. Its like playing with 10.
We are better with him in the team? We might win certain games with him in the team but we are nothing close to better because it’s like playing with a man down up front. If Auba ain’t scoring, he’s never on the pitch.
We definitely play better upfront with everyone contributing without him in the team
I think he will play tomorrow as I also think Martinelli will play too.
👍 Martinelli looked good in training!
Agreed! Before he Signed his new contract he was one of the Most deadliest strikers in Europe. Today he’s inconsistent. Hatrick one game 5 touches of the ball the next.
Like all arsenal fans we hope he returns to the deadly player we knew but if not he needs to chill on the bench a little.
“everybody has to obviously perform at the highest level to earn their place in the team, there is no exception there”…really??? I would suggest that Willian, Xhaka, Luiz & Ceballos have made an absolute mockery of that claim at several points this season…regardless of Auba’s form, we’re a far more dangerous team with him in the lineup and anybody who disputes that notion should just look at our goal scoring record since his arrival in North London…not even the best striker in the world would have lit it up with the negative tactics we’ve employed for the better part of this season…even on Sunday, when we did adopt a bit more direct approach, we scored from the penalty spot, which was the most fortuitous call we’ve received in literally years, and on a deflection in tight…I can only hope he’s starting against Olympiacos, as we can ill-afford to mess around considering the significance of this game…on a side note, I’m looking forward to finally seeing Martinelli back on the pitch again