COVID DOMINATING CHRISTMAS PERIOD, AGAIN

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Well, we’re officially here… you know it’s Christmas because COVID is hitting all the major clubs in the Premier League.

Spurs is having issues, United and Brentford has been cancelled (lol), Arsenal apparently has a few training ground guys with problems… there are 42 cases in the league as it stands.

What is going on here? Is it the more contagious variant? Or the winter setting in and people hanging out inside a bit more?

Who knows, but when the numbers start going mad, you worry about what our jittery government is going to do next.

Arsenal sent out e-mails yesterday asking people to bring their covid pass to the game.

That doesn’t work for me as I’m in from America, but I’m told you can roll in with your vaccine card and your green card. What a mess. How are the stewards going to effectively manage this? Asking fans to show up at 5pm is outrageous. The idea that we’ve all got to queue up in crowds to get our COVID passes checked… then immediately gather in an enclosed space drinking after seems like a bit of a weird one.

It’s a bit annoying that something as complicated as this leads to a dead page on the .com. Not everyone gets the club e-mail.

But here is the club e-mail from @_Grimanditweets.

The game is a big one, so many will venture out and take the pain. West Ham is a London derby, they are doing very well this year, and Arsenal could bounce past them if they put in a big win.

We know they’ll offer up a tougher challenge than the one Southampton offered up. They won’t fall for our tricks and offensive plays. They’ll be physical, they’ll defend tightly, and they have all the tools to hit us hard and fast on the break.

I have no idea what the plan is going to be, but whatever it is, we’ll need to be at our very best to come away with anything more than a draw.

I’m quite interested to see if Auba makes the matchday squad. Arteta told everyone he was out for a disciplinary breach. If he’s going public, it’ll be because more than the one thing has happened at the club. Will he invite him back onto the bench? Or will he stick with what he had at his disposal for the last game that seemed to work pretty well?

In the past, you were sacrificing an elite goalscoring threat. Now Auba has weakened across so many different metrics, it’s hard to drum up ideas on why he’s essential to the matchday squad. I’m still not totally sure what the plan was with Auba. He’ll be out the door pretty soon with AFCON. Are the club hoping to shove him out in January? Has this happened early to give his people time to call up the Newcastle people? Or is it just unfortunate timing after the drip-drip of issues?

Auba wasn’t great after he came back into the squad after the Spurs banishment. We can’t afford to have him moping around on the pitch. This is a tough one.

The biggest lesson we can take from all of this?

  • No more deals for over 30s
  • No more gifting the captains armband to players that aren’t natural leaders

What a mess, eh?

Right, short one today, I’m off to find out how hard it is to get into the ground tomorrow.

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raptora

Bob: “I’m not surprised that a fair few posters are saying Arteta is at fault here as they slag Arteta off in any circumstances, rational or not.” Lol, let’s just mention that faction and not the other one that go as far as defending Xhaka just to make sense of Arteta’s decision?! Bob: “I think he was forced to go public about why Auba has lost the captaincy” “I don’t think Arteta had a choice.” Explain please. What forced him? He is the big guy in there. He is the boss. We know nothing but a few things about the… Read more »

Samesong

Auba been poor for some time.

Has anyone considered also that Auba might want out too?

Matt B

MidwestGun: Well in the end Arteta did the right thing.. How he handled it to me is immaterial if we go on to win some matches and more importantly beat West Ham on wednesday. However if he compounds the situation by naming Xhaka the new Club Captain.. I would almost be speechless

Agree with this completely and sorry, I missed your earlier post about my take on the UK media at the weekend — yes, the story has certainly taken a turn for the worse!

raptora

Bob: “Or is it that your dislike of Arteta forces you to try and create a narrative that puts him in a bad light?”

I am open about wanting him out of the club. You, however, think that you have the clubs best interest at heart, but you’ve defended Arteta even during the horror shows he’ve brought us, the tens of broken negative records, and the garbage football we’ve been playing for 2 years straight. Don’t act up like you are in the middle, you are not and your face is deep in Arteta’s ass.

Bob N16

DivineS, it was up to PEA as captain to set a good example to his teammates. If those same teammates saw that he was being allowed to miss training due to his own timekeeping on at least two occasions, how do you think it would be beneficial to not act?

If you had an employee who was overseeing good practice to staff below him and that employee repeatedly set a bad example, he would be privately warned. If he continued to set a bad example, do you not think you’d have to deal with it?

Bob N16

No Raptora, don’t try and lump me into the Arteta’s farts smell nice camp so both extreme sides can be irrational together and that somehow give you a get out to suspend any reasonable argument.

You’re being disingenuous to believe that PEA could have lost the captaincy without the press and supporters demanding to know what had happened. You’re simply a hater who has seemingly lost the ability to reason.

Emiratesstroller

Samesong

The statement posted by Arsenal suggests that there was no apology or regret forthcoming from Aubameyang and that there is no immediate plan for the player to return to the fold.

Arteta’s responses to key questions did not give the impression that Aubameyang will be
selected anytime soon.

Ozil was Arsenal’s most expensive wage earner last season and yet he was kept out of squad
for more than half a season. It would not surprise me that Aubameyang will experience a
similar story.

DigitalBob

ES – Yes announcing it like this to me is effectively transfer listing Auba. If not for the AFCON taking place soon he may well have been playing elsewhere a month from now. I expect if we don’t have any suitor’s for Auba this summer a buyout will be agreed. With Eddie and Laca both likely to leave and Balogun needing a long term loan its possible we may be in the market for a couple of strikers come the summer. I think Vlahović is a bit to optimistic but can see the likes of Calvert-Lewin and even Anthony Martial… Read more »

Rich

Regarding the club going public, the rule in politics is you try and get a story or scandal in and then out of the papers, within 24-72 hours If a negative story stays around longer than that, then you’re in trouble If a stories likely to come out anyway, then you get your own version of events out first, which we’ve done, allowing the other side to get their version out first, or the media to get in first, is a bad idea This way the club controls the narrative We probably knew this yesterday, but we’ve waited 30 hours… Read more »

Bob N16

Sense from Rich as usual

Matt B

Yes — Rich’s take makes sense

The only problem is if we lose tomorrow and then you just know how some on here will react. And they may have a point, unless the performance is good…

Vintage Gun

“Has anyone considered also that Auba might want out too?” Yep. Me. Auba wanted out summer just gone but nobody was really serious. We tried to shift him or Lacca to make room for Tammy Abraham but only got tyre kickers. Auba’s too free spirited to blossom under a manager like Arteta and he’s been visibly unhappy on the pitch for the best part of a year now in most games. He NEEDS to leave as i feel his Arsenal story is all but written now. My guess would be Barca to replace Aguero who became the latest player to… Read more »

Vintage Gun

Regarding the new captain.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Xhaka has it already. Just like his new contract the club are probably too shook to announce it.

Bob N16

Take your point Matt but we won’t miss this season’s PEA’s level of performance.

Graham62

Although Aubameyang was rightly dropped, I genuinely feel sorry for the guy.

Arteta has created these problems.

No one else to blame.

Venga, Dani

Wonder if someone would take PEA on loan and pay partial wages.

Ernest Reed

The final rinsing of all perceived as part of the larger problem then, ES?

It most certainly appears that way, a total house cleaning of bad contracts and bad attitudes. Then and only then will we be told that Arteta’s reign will truly begin. The moving target of success really remains the most enigmatic aspect of Arsenal’s progress, but I suppose you eventually have to start from some point.

Ernest Reed

“Although Aubameyang was rightly dropped, I genuinely feel sorry for the guy.Arteta has created these problems.No one else to blame.”

Objectivity is not your thing, is it Graham?

Bob N16

BS Graham, that’s patronising to PEA to suggest that he has no choice in his life and that Arteta is like a puppet master.

PEA has to own his mistakes but when you’re on £300k a week it might be hard to be humble when you’re reflecting on your actions and their consequences.

Emiratesstroller

There will be no shortage of clubs wanting to recruit Aubameyang. The only issue will be his
wages and any potential transfer fee.

Recent history has shown that Arsenal are not adverse to making a financial sacrifice once a
player is no longer needed or wanted.

Dissenter

Bob,
For whatever reasons, you’re conflating several issues
No one is defending Auba and suggesting he is not deserving of his consequences.
It’s the public washing of dirty linen that grating some of us.

Emiratesstroller

Dissenter

The central message from the decision made is that “the club is bigger than the player”.

Ernest Reed

“It’s the public washing of dirty linen that grating some of us.”

But apparently its acceptable that PEA disregard club rules, and not for the first time either?

Its called tough medicine and if you recall, his tenure at Dortmund ended in somewhat similar circumstances- he wore out his welcome. If you live by the fire you eventually will die by the fire. Auba is not innocent nor new to any of this, he’s always been about himself as a priority.

Dissenter

The other side of the story is that maybe Arsenal wont have to pay Aubameyang some of bonuses owed him with the public outing
Are there contractual benefits that Arsenal FC gets from handling it this way?

Bob N16

Dissenter, interesting you should focus on that rather than PEA’s actions. Did you get a chance to read Rich’s post? Can’t see that Arsenal could have handled it much better really. I think PEA’s teammates will understand what had to happen. He should play against Sunderland and show his commitment to the cause otherwise try and get rid.

NORG

Auba to Barca on loan in January with an option to buy. AFC to pay 65% of his wages (or more).

Dissenter

Ernest I believe I wrote that “no one is defending Auba and suggesting he is not deserving of his consequences” I see you disregarded the first part of the post Didn’t we know about his past when most gooners where ecstatic he was signing for us? Didn’t we know about hat same past when most gooners were tweeting that he “sign da ting”? He could have been punished and banished and no one will care because he’s been a nonentity of a footballer in the past year. A guy who’s been blocking goal bound shots from his team mates with… Read more »

Dissenter

The talk about Auba leaving is premature to be honest

Even at the height of his prowess, when hw was having similar problems at Dortmund, there was no queue of clubs eager to sign him. If Arsenal, had not come for him, he would have run that contract down.

Who’s going to sign him now on 250-350k weekly when he’s 32 years old?

Bob N16

Agüero has just had to retire so here’s hoping, either that or the sugar Daddy Geordies?

Karsa

Can’t see Auba doing an Ozil for the next 18 months. He enjoys playing too much.

He’ll take a pay cut elsewhere.

Vintage Gun

Yeah Auba will be gone by summer the latest. His situation is different to Ozil’s in the fact that Ozil was broken after the German World cup fiasco and had given up on his football.
Auba loves scoring goals too much to mail it in until summer 2023. Plus he will be around 34 by that time thus as good as dead regarding a move to a big team.

If he wants one more adventure then he has to move either next month or summer the latest.

Mb

I was one the few here that wondered why there was no other club trying to sign him in 2018.

And yet, he was the highest scorer for a season and in top3 for the next one.

You don’t need a bs reason to hate him. He was not disciplined, we strip off his captaincy and keep him out.

It should have nothing to do with his Lamborghini’s color, his hair style or if he dresses like a kid.

It’s Tuesday and some or you already weekend drunk.

Chris

If there is to be another’ leadership group’ I’d say four players then perhaps Ramsdale could be included, given his strength of character, obvious passion for the club and communication. Perhaps even that is too soon for him though.

For the remainder of the season it could be:

Lacazette
Tierney
Gabriel
Odegaard

Nigel Tufnel

Enough with the Aubameyang nonsense. It’s news, but not really. The media love to blow it out of proportion, as do blog writers for clicks. The other players probably don’t care much, if at all. It doesn’t affect their personal positions in the team, or their money. I don’t care, because he’s been poor to mediocre at best.. for over a year. He’s not the future for us, so even if he was doing decently for us, we were planning for a future where he’s a second option in the last year of his contract. As things are going now,… Read more »

bacaryisgod

I don’t understand the complaints aimed at Arteta over taking the captaincy from Aubameyang.

Even if he did it privately, he would have been asked about it in his press conferences ad nauseum. We all know why he lost the captaincy so let’s just move on.

I think the best bet right now is to have Lacazette captain until the end of the season and then take it from there. He’s hugely respected by the younger players and there’s no natural candidate right now that checks all the boxes.

bacaryisgod

We have about a 27m obligation to Auba over the next 18 months. If we can get a team to take him off our hands at even 120k per week, we would still be saving close to 10m rather than have him fade into obscurity as an unhappy bench player.

Mr Serge

Ode ,or KT will be Captain vice captain no way xhaka gets it the fans will lose their minds

Mr Serge

Auba is a wanted player he will move asap the Geordies want him Barca need him something will happen and we will replace him

Mr Serge

Bob N16December 14, 2021 17:05:29
No Raptora, don’t try and lump me into the Arteta’s farts smell nice camp so both extreme sides can be irrational together and that somehow give you a get out to suspend any reasonable argument.You’re being disingenuous to believe that PEA could have lost the captaincy without the press and supporters demanding to know what had happened. You’re simply a hater who has seemingly lost the ability to reason.

Love this lol Artetas farts smell nice camp lolololololol
I am literally laughing out load

Nigel Tufnel

Bacary,
Thanks for doing the Auba maths.

Serge I hope you’re right about teams wanting or needing Aubameyang. It will get us a better deal. I’m afraid they’ll see us a desperate to get rid and will all be bargain hunting.

To everybody here, I’m not sure who Arteta has in mind for Captain, but whoever it is, many of us would’ve chosen differently. That’s just part of life. It’s really not that important.

Samesong

I can’t see Auba coming back to the club after the AFCON. Plenty of suitors still for him. There’s always China and Middle East too for that big money. I would be pissed off if he went to Chelsea though.