Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stripped of captaincy
Arsenal Football Club has stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the club captaincy following a disciplinary breach last week.
Aubameyang was left out of the squad for Saturday’s match against Southampton, and Arsenal confirmed their decision to remove the forward as captain on Tuesday. “Following his latest disciplinary breach last week, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will no longer be our club captain, and will not be considered for selection for Wednesday’s match against West Ham United.” Official Club Statement.
Aubameyang was not in Arsenal’s squad to face Southampton over a breach of discipline; “We expect all our players, particularly our captain, to work to the rules and standards we have all set and agreed,” the club said; Arsenal face West Ham on Wednesday and the forward will take no part.
Although Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has not disclosed how Aubameyang broke the rules, but several reports suggested that he returned late from an authorized trip abroad.
This is very a big call from Mikel Arteta. He has always talked of “non-negotiables” and he must feel Pierre Emerick Aubameyang has crossed the line turning up late, twice in a calendar year.
Last Thursday the Arsenal manager, said there was no desire to sell Aubameyang in January: “We have never discussed something like this. When players are having difficult periods what we have to give is support.”
William Gallas, Robin van Persie, Laurent Koscielny – among others – and now Aubameyang…
Emery named Aubameyang as Arsenal’s new captain after taking the armband off Granit Xhaka and Arteta decided to stick with the striker after taking over as manager a few weeks later.
The decision seemed to pay off initially, with Aubameyang leading Arsenal to FA Cup glory in August 2020 and scoring his 28th and 29th goals of the season in the final, but his form dipped after he signed a new long-term contract a few weeks after that.
The 32-year-old scored only 15 goals last season, his lowest total since the 2010/11 campaign, and if his form was not enough of a worry, disciplinary issues began to arise too. Aubameyang kept hold of the armband after his indiscretion against Tottenham last season, but this has proved a breach too far.
The curse of the Arsenal captaincy continues.
As for replacements, Lacazette will probably be captain against West Ham tomorrow. Granit Xhaka is a leader at the club but I’m not sure that would go down well with the Arsenal fans after he was stripped of the captaincy before. Kieran Tierney and Gabriel would be the fans favourites.
