Leadership just changed hands in Arsenal with Aubameyang being handed the captain’s armband, following the recent events from the past couple of weeks. During the Gooners’ match against Crystal Palace some weeks ago, Granit Xhaka, who then had been the club captain, had responded in a not-too-colourful manner to the Arsenal fans who had jeered at him when he was coming off and stormed down the tunnel.
There had been a lot of comments following his behaviour, many condemning it because it wasn’t something a club captain should do, and some others asking that he be stripped of the captaincy. Through all of these, the club manager, Unai Emery had been somewhat quiet, probably because he has a problem of his own to focus on as Arsenal are not in a good place right now with their performances. Emery could even lose his job for this – or because the club are working on what and how to settle the situation.
As we all know that for every action, there are consequences, and Xhaka’s actions have brought its consequence. Xhaka has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy, giving it to Aubameyang. This was on the heel of Xhaka’s recent apology where he explained he was emotional and responded because of all the abuse he had received online.
Currently, Emery is under pressure for the deteriorating form of the club. Most fans are in the dark as to what the manager is doing while a previous article from this site had hinted on the language barrier being one of the major problems the manager is facing at Arsenal.
Although Emery is possibly close to losing his job at Arsenal, the recent development which saw Aubameyang become club captain might sway things in his favour a little bit.
It is no doubt that Aubameyang is a significant part of Emery’s squad. In fact, it is safe to say he is our best forward so far this season. According to his Premier League stats, he has scored eight goals in 11 appearances leaving him at an average of 0.73 goals per match. He has had 31 shots with 13 shots on target. His performances so far have been impressive and this started to happen under Emery.
If there is still any hope for Emery in Arsenal, Aubameyang might be the reason he’ll continue to be Arsenal’s manager, and that will be because the manager makes the Gabon international flourish. It’s not just Aubameyang, but other players like Bukayo Saka whose development under Emery has been impressive.
Being handed the captaincy will serve as a motivation for the Gabonese forward to want to do even better, because the best leader is one who leads by example.
We might be looking at an Arsenal with a captain that has enough drive to lead the squad right. With a balanced squad that are ready to give it their all, and the fact that Aubameyang has always been a part of the Arsenal first team since he got here means he should be able to properly coordinate the team.
There is seemingly no one with more hunger to win than him in the Arsenal squad and that’s a good thing for Arsenal and Emery, seeing as they’ve been too relaxed recently and allowing themselves slip this early into the season.
If anything at all, the input and how well Aubameyang can lead the team will reflect on Emery’s performance as the manager of the club, and likely sway people’s interest back in his favour.
Conclusion
We have seen Aubameyang’s input in the Arsenal squad and the things he can do. Also, we know him to be a player who is keen on winning titles hence the fear of losing him, but with the captaincy, he can have the opportunity to be in the leadership position and make things work.
This is a good thing for Unai Emery who is under pressure on how to make Arsenal better and secure a top-four finish for the club.
