Should Auba Still Be Captain? by Dan
While Arsenal haven’t officially confirmed what the exact disciplinary protocol Aubameyang supposedly broke was at the weekend, it’s believed it involves time keeping, with the striker, not for the first time, running late.
Arteta has always promised he has certain values and anyone who will not follow his ethos will not be tolerated.
I can imagine his mentor Pep Guardiola teaching his apprentice the importance of showing up for work on time.
After all, if the everyday man or women were consistently late for their job, their boss wouldn’t accept traffic as an excuse.
If you care enough leave your house earlier.
Clearly though our captain felt the matter was trivial and did not warrant him being dropped for such a crucial fixture.
That is a problem.
If our manager had his way the matter would have been ended Monday morning, with his striker having had the night to process the development and everyone could move on.
Instead, it’s believed that Auba made it very apparent on the bench that he wasn’t impressed with not being subbed on and at the first possible moment drove away from the Emirates, not joining in with the celebrations.
Of course, you want your players disappointed to not play but the issue is this is our skipper, therefore the dressing room leader.
A Tony Adams, Vieira or Henry would have been happy enough we had beaten Spurs to put that above their own personal disappointment.
No one is bigger than the club.
A player can be gutted to not be selected but that does not mean they have a divine right to play.
The manager could have several reasons not to pick you, it’s not up to the player to decide if that reason is acceptable.
Arteta made it clear, his preference was for his forward to take his medicine, learn from his error and by the next day draw a line under everything.
Therefore, Auba’s reaction to the punishment is as concerning as his original discretion.
This is not a player who has been scoring 20 plus goals this season.
He is the face of a squad who finished in their worst League position in two decades last season and are on course to do even worse this campaign.
He should be embarrassed.
This, from a man who himself has admitted how accommodating his employers have been to his personal problems
So, if his boss says time keeping is important, he should lead by example, not be a liability.
Being a leader takes more than making your peers laugh and coming up with fancy goal celebrations and high fives. You are meant to be the connection between management and the locker room. The one man the coach can trust when his back is turned to be implementing his vision.
A Roy Keane would not have been late for a Manchester Derby!
What about Gerrard in a Merseyside Derby?
A John Terry before a big game?
These men wouldn’t have slept let alone be the last to be prepared for battle.
For too long our armband meant nothing. A prop often to keep a player’s ego happy, who we knew wanted to leave.
If Arteta wants that role to be about representing the pride and prestige of the values our club once represented, then that’s good enough for me
If Aubameyang can’t do that, then maybe the captaincy isn’t for him?
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Dan Smith
Dan