Aubameyang “should never play for Arsenal again”

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I did not want Arsenal to offer a new deal to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

This is not me being Captain Hindsight.

Back in December 2019, I blogged that Arsenal should not be afraid to lose their star man for free.

He ended up getting his deal, and it has been a disaster since.

Anyone that followed his Borussia Dortmund career would know it was beset with disciplinary issues. The flights to Milan and Paris for parties. The tardiness to training.

These issues increased as his motivation to remain at Dortmund dwindled.

In November 2017, 2 months before he joined Arsenal, Aubameyang was dropped by Dortmund for disciplinary reasons.

The striker had been without a goal for 5 games and was being heavily linked with a move away. It is clear he no longer wanted to be at Dortmund.

Role on 4 years and it is deja vu.

Without a goal in 6 games, Mike Arteta dropped him for the second time due to disciplinary issues.

Unconfirmed rumours is he failed to turn up for training on Friday due to getting a new tattoo.

Regardless of the reason, failing to turn up to training the day before a game, with the team struggling for a bit of form, is unacceptable.

Aubameyang had been dropped due for the Everton game due to form.

He had been horrendous. A hinderance rather than the £250k star striker.

We had the missed penalties. The missed shots that were easier to score. Poking in others goal bound shots when in an offside position.

He was also contributing very little outside of goals.

For the 5 games he started where he did not score, he contributed nothing. Failing to get an assist in that time.

In his last 7 games in has 1 goal and 3 yellow cards.

The on and off pitch discipline problems and poor form all points to a player who no longer wants to be here. Whose head has turned abs he is looking for a way out.

At the very least, he should be stripped of the captaincy. Who takes the arm band is a discussion for another blog.

But I actually think he should never play for Arsenal again.

With 18 months to go on his £250k a week contract and turning 33 in June, there will not be a long queue for Aubameyang’s services. And this is the problem for Arsenal.

If we can not find a buyer for a player we do not want and does not want to be here, we are in another Mesut Ozil scenario.

Unable to move on, unable to invest funds into the position due to the money his salary is taking up.

Maybe Newcastle United will come in. Make him their stellar signing for January. Money for salaries won’t be an issue for them.

Barcelona are also desperate for a striker.

They have been linked with Edison Cavani in recent days. I am not sure what their financial restrictions are and whether that will block a deal.

If they are allowed to sign him, I can see maybe an 18-month loan deal being suitable for both parties.

Barcelona get the striker without a fee, Arsenal get the wages off their books.

And then there is China.

Before joining Arsenal he looked on the verge of disappearing into oblivion in the Far East.

It perhaps shows the motivation of the man that at 28-years-old he was pushing for a love to China.

Do they still have money out there? Are they still splashing the cash? I do not know.

Over the next few days we will discuss further the impact of Aubameyang leaving. But even if Arsenal do not get a transfer fee for him we can easily get in a replacement with a re jig of finances.

All I know is I am done with Aubameyang.

He was a great signing who scored the goals to take us to the FA Cup in 2020. But like at Dortmund, his ending is coming fast and bitter.

Aubameyang should never play for Arsenal again.

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 3-0 Southampton

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Arsenal (2) 3 Southampton (0) 0

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Saturday, 11th December 2021. Kick-off time: 3.00pm

(4-4-4-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Martinelli; Martin Ødegaard; Alexandre Lacazette.

Substitutes: Emile Smith-Rowe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Nicolas Pépé, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Eddie Nketiah, Arthur Okonkwo.

Scorers: Alexandre Lacazette (21 mins), Martin Ødegaard (27 mins), Gabriel (62 mins)

Yellow Cards: Gabriel, Bukayo Saka

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 62%

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistant Referees: Adam Nunn, Neil Davie

Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Michael Oliver; AVAR Scott Ledger

Attendance: 59,653

After the disaster at Goodison Park last Monday, we are at home today against Southampton, and pound for pound, they are a team that we are capable of beating (in theory). The trouble is, quite bluntly, which Arsenal will turn up this afternoon? Utilising a 4-4-4-1 formation, and with Emile Smith-Rowe on the bench, we have to say that anything can happen! Very frustrating times for Mikel Arteta, the players and supporters too. Anyway, we’ll soon know the answer at 4.45pm this afternoon.

Quite a lively start with both sides trying each other’s defences out with some probing football, and very quickly Southampton had us under pressure with the ball not travelling outside our half for the first ten minutes. Gabriel was booked in the sixth minute, and Adam Armstrong’s right footed shot from the left side of the box was well saved by Aaron Ramsdale as it headed towards the bottom left corner. The visitors were certainly causing us some problems, and our only chance to try to change this situation was to break out, which we did successfully from time to time. Bukayo Saka brought down a Southampton player just outside the penalty area and the subsequent free-kick from Kyle Walker-Peters went way over the Arsenal bar thankfully. On the twenty-first minute, some clever passing play by us found the feet of Bukayo Saka out on the right hand side, who coolly slotted the ball into the visitors’ penalty area for Alexandre Lacazette to score the opening goal of the afternoon with his trusty right foot. The goal appeared to wake us up somewhat, and we now started to play with confidence, stroking the ball around, and finding our players fairly easily. Six minutes later, we scored a second goal, when the ball came across from the right hand side again, which found the head of Kieran Tierney, who headed the ball across the goal for Martin Ødegaard to score a well-taken headed goal from close range. With two goals to the good, and before the half hour mark as well, we are in control and looking very confident indeed. Alexandre Lacazette nearly grabbed a second goal for himself when a through ball came to his feet in the Saints’ penalty area, only for him to be denied by a last minute tackle from Tino Livramento. Bukayo Saka was also unlucky not to score a minute or so later, when a clever backheel from Martin Ødegaard found him in the visitors’ penalty area, but his strong shot was tipped over the bar by Willy Caballero. In the three minutes’ injury time of the first half, a Southampton free-kick went over Aaron Ramsdale’s bar courtesy of the wall, which held firm from a strong James Ward-Prowse shot. Although we managed to get a corner on the stroke of half-time, the match paused with the score being two up to the Gunners.

Within a minute of the restart, Granit Xhaka’s left-footed shot from outside the penalty area went high and wide to the left of the Saints’ goal. The visitors made an attempt on our goal quite early on in the second half, but we superbly played our way out of the problem, and over on the right-hand side, Takehiro Tomiyasu covered a lot of ground to pick up the loose pass, and also when he ran back to cover when Southampton moved forward. Some good play led to Martin Ødegaard blasting a shot over the visitors’ bar from twenty yards, and a couple of minutes’ later, Aaron Ramsdale made a superb save from Nathan Tella, which looked quite dangerous. However, the momentum was ours, as we came forward to try to add to the score time and time again. Just before the hour mark, Gabriel got the ball into the net, but it was chalked off for offside; however, two minutes later, a Gabriel Martinelli corner saw Gabriel rise up and head the ball home for our third goal of the match. Excellent. We are in complete control now; after the restart, Gabriel Martinelli found himself outside the box when he struck the bar with a curling shot before Takehiro Tomiyasu was denied by a fine Willy Caballero save on the rebound. Bukayo Saka then hit the woodwork with an excellent shot, and with twenty minutes of the match remaining, goalscorer Gabriel was replaced by Rob Holding to shore up things at the back with fresh legs. We are playing out from the back (as usual) and are just stroking the ball around, looking extremely confident; but we nearly got caught out when a loose ball found Nathan Redmond and Aaron Ramsdale made an acrobatic save to deny the visitors a goalscoring chance. Despite this, and the relentless rain falling down from the North London sky, the match had become one-way traffic, and we looked commanding as the game descended into the last ten minutes or so. Granit Xhaka was replaced by Albert Sambi Lokonga, and we carried on regardless. With eight minutes of the match remaining, Alexandre Lacazette was replaced by Nicolas Pépé, and still we kept advancing looking for that elusive fourth goal. As the match died down, game management was the order of the day for us, and although we could have scored at any time, it appeared to be more important to stop Southampton scoring and to keep a clean sheet, although Bukayo Saka’s left-footed shot narrowly went past the post virtually on the final kick of the game.

All the pre-match talk today was of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being dropped from the squad “due to a disciplinary breach”, but to be fair, who really cares? After an iffy start, we got a grip and took command of the match and in the end, we got the result we truly needed. It would be glib to say that “it was only Southampton” but that would show conceit and arrogance of the most highest order; as we have seen, the Premiership is a sometimes impossible place to predict a result, let alone get one. Anyway, at this moment in time, we are fifth in the Premiership table, and our next match is West Ham United on Wednesday night. Now that will be interesting.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: West Ham United at the Emirates on Wednesday, 15th December at 8.00pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.

Double defeat shows Arsenal still have a long journey ahead (is Arteta the right man to take us there?)

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I wrote a few days ago about how games away to Manchester United and Everton will really show where Arsenal are this season.

Double victories would have had us as top 4 contenders and probably favourites to take that 4th place. A draw and a win would have led to a similar mind set.

The worst case scenario would be a double defeat.

Losing both games would show that we are not really top 4 contenders.

Prior to the double header, we were a team that were beating those teams in a relegation battle, losing to those in the top 3 and mixed results against those looking to finish top half of the table (victories against Leicester City and Tottenham offset with draws to Brighton and Crystal Palace).

We ended up with the worst case scenario – losing both games.

The double defeat leaves us in 7th, 4 points off West Ham in 4th and – perhaps more concerning – 2 points below Tottenham who have a game in hand. We are also back below Manchester United.

Since getting rid of Ole, Manchester United have won 2 and drawn 1 of their 3 Premier League games. A little run that included facing Arsenal and Chelsea.

Tottenham are also unbeaten in the 4 Premier League games since Antonio Conte took over – 3 wins and a draw.

Tottenham and Manchester United twisted, Arsenal stuck.

The turn around in form of the two sides that sacked their managers will heap further pressure from the fans onto Arsenal and Mikel Arteta.

If we finish below Tottenham and Manchester United – having been above both when they sacked their managers – the placings can be directly linked to the managers.

It will be impossibile to justify keeping Arteta when others have shown the improvement after sacking the manager.

Arteta will not be sacked tomorrow. He will get the rest of the season. One issue Arsenal face is potential replacements have been snapped up by others.

It is not yet time to hit the panic button. But if we end up below Tottenham and Manchester United then that should be it for Arteta.

Up next we have home games agaisnt Southampton and West Ham. 6 points from 6 are non-negoatiable. Failure will see the atmosphere at the Emirates quickly change.

I am usually a positive fella. But with the drab football, poor performances and poor results, it is hard to be positive right now.

Keenos