It is less than four weeks ago that Arteta eulogised about his attitude during a pre-match interview. “I have never seen Auba transmit what he is doing now,” the Arsenal manager said on October 25. “Apart from the goals, do you see the way he runs, the purpose he has to press the ball, and when he takes it his movement, his link (play), how he is leading the game? I prefer this Auba. For me, it is a click. It is a combination that realising that his role has to go well beyond that.”
Either Arteta was mistaken or what had “clicked” has since unclicked. The overriding impression of Aubameyang is that although it’s possible to make a case that he is a bad captain, he is certainly not a bad person.
Thomas Tuchel managed Aubameyang at Borussia Dortmund, where he also struggled with punctuality. He was formally disciplined on at least one occasion but for the most part, they found ways to manage the situation. If the team were due to meet at 11am they would simply tell Aubameyang it started at 10.45am. “He did not miss a single training session in two years,” Tuchel explained this year. “Maybe he arrived five minutes late, that can happen with him, but if he does this, he is in a hurry, he has excuses, he is sorry and he has still a smile on his face. That’s him, and it’s hard to be mad with the guy. He has a big heart.”
These minor infractions are the kinds of things that happen in all dressing rooms. Perhaps a more experienced manager than Arteta would have found a way to work around Aubameyang’s idiosyncrasies. For all the questions surrounding the former head of football Raul Sanllehi, he had a facility for smoothing over these kinds of conflict.
At the same time, it’s worth pointing out that Dortmund never sought to make Aubameyang captain. Arteta inherited Aubameyang as captain but did meet with the Gabon international before confirming he would continue in the role. In the first few months, that looked like a wise move. Now, less so.
