EMIRATES STADIUM — On a day in which two Arsenal fans – Dimitri and Kelli, we were reliably informed by the scoreboard – celebrated their love for one another by getting engaged on the side of the Emirates pitch with Gunnersaurus as their witness, Mikel Arteta was doing his best to play down talk of an imminent divorce between the club and its captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arteta confirmed before kick-off that Aubameyang had been omitted from his matchday squad due to a “disciplinary breach”. It subsequently emerged that Aubameyang had flown abroad to attend to a personal matter but reported back for duty later than Arsenal had anticipated and in doing so, put their Covid-19 protocols at risk.
This was not Aubameyang’s first offence. In March, he was demoted to the bench for a north London derby against Spurs after arriving late at the stadium and in February he was “reminded of his responsibilities” when a video was posted on Instagram which showed him getting a tattoo on his hand at a time when the country was in lockdown.
Before the game, Arteta reiterated that no player was exempt from the club’s rules. “I think we’ve been very consistent that there are non-negotiables on the team that we have set ourselves and as a club and he’s not involved today,” a clearly miffed Arteta said before the match.
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The Aubameyang incident was the last thing that Arteta needed following a testing couple of weeks that had raised familiar questions about whether this young, new-look Arsenal team is narrowing the gap on the division’s best teams or still operating well below them. The 39-year-old was visibly spiky during his pre-match press duties, a flicker of grey strands in his trademark jet black hair betraying the unrelenting stresses of managing this club.
A 3-0 win against Southampton, settled with 28 minutes to spare, was the perfect antidote. A sticky opening 15 minutes aside in which Arsenal struggled to cope with Southampton’s co-ordinated high press, this was as routine a three points as it gets for a team that tends to make life difficult for itself. There was much for Arteta to be cautiously optimistic about.
Aaron Ramsdale, the Stoke-born shot-stopper with Samba feet, was sensational; Takehiro Tomiyasu patrolled the right flank with authority; Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey gelled neatly in midfield; and each of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Alexandre Lacazette – Aubameyang’s replacement, both in position and status – either scored or assisted a goal. Pierre, who?
The first goal encapsulated Arteta’s vision for what Arsenal could be. Southampton’s press was bypassed on four occasions when Ramsdale, Ben White, Partey and Tomiyasu zig-zagged the ball accurately and efficiently away from an onrushing, black-shirted opponent who arrived a second too late. Odegaard slid a pass into space, Saka bounded after it with the enthusiasm of a puppy chasing a tennis ball and Lacazette thumped the cut-back ruthlessly into the top corner. It was a perfectly crafted and devastatingly executed move.
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“We scored a really, really good goal and after that started to dominate the game,” was Arteta’s accurate summation. Impressive though the win was, Aubameyang’s non-appearance remained the more compelling storyline. A second inquest began into the circumstances behind his latest suspension from first-team affairs.
“Let’s talk about the game, guys” Arteta pleaded when asked whether Aubameyang would retain his position as club captain following this latest act of insubordination. But then just as the press conference was about to be wrapped up, an olive branch was seemingly offered. Pressed on whether Aubameyang’s exclusion was “just today” Arteta nodded sagely. Perhaps, there is life in this complicated relationship yet.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3oO8XiA
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