Obviously the biggest news coming out about Arsenal today was the bombshell that PE Aubameyang was being stripped of the captain’s armband would not be included in the Arsenal squad to face West Ham, despite the Gabon hitman already having been excluded from the Southampton match.
I was thinking today that I wondered what the reserve team coach Per Mertesacker must be thinking about all these shenanigans, as I remember that when he was the captain under Arsene Wenger, it was his job to issue fines for being late to training and suchlike.
He must be thinking that Aubameyang has now been captain for what, two years? And the only person that we know of that has been in breach of discipline and excluded from the matchday squad has been our captain himself! Not once, but twice!
So I am sure that the Big Friendly German will be right behind Arteta’s actions…
But there is one possibility that hasn’t been discussed yet, and that is that perhaps the ambiguity of being the carefree joker AND the captain has been too much for our striker to deal with, because his goalscoring problems have surely started after being given his massive pay rise and the captain’s armband.
As Luke Chadwick, the ex-Man United midfielder, said today in an exclusive interview with CaughtOffside: “When he first came in he was a breath of fresh air and carried on from his incredible success at Borussia Dortmund.
“Since getting the captain’s armband his performances have dipped a little bit. Maybe without that pressure of the captaincy he can get back to doing what he does best, which is scoring plenty of goals for Arsenal.
“At his best he was without a doubt one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”
So, we can perhaps look on the bright side of this devastating situation. Possibly, after a short period of reflection, Aubameyang will appreciate that a weight has been taken off his shoulders at last and get back to using his carefree character to his advantage once again, and start scoring goals again with freedom.
One can only hope….
JUST ARSENAL SHOW – DAN SMITH DISCUSSES THE AUBA v ARTETA FALLOUT….