Arsenal star Mohamed Elneny has revealed that every player at the club was scared of Mikel Arteta after he axed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the squad last year.
The Gunners boss has proven time and again that he is ruthless. You’re either with him and the squad or you’re gone – just ask Mesut Ozil, Matteo Guendouzi and of course, Aubameyang.
Mohamed Elneny says Mikel Arteta ‘scared’ Arsenal players last December
Almost exactly 11 months ago to this day, Arteta made a massive call.
We were set to take on Everton in the Premier League on the 6th of December, and Arteta axed club captain Aubameyang for yet another disciplinary breach.
The Gabon star was pushed away from the first team, and he never played for us again. Less than two months later, his contract was terminated, and he was allowed to leave the club.
Elneny has now had his say on the situation, and he revealed that every player at Arsenal was ‘scared’ at that point. If Arteta could do that to the captain, nobody was safe.
The Egyptian told Goal: “Everyone looked at themselves because [if] Mikel did that to the captain of the team, what is he going to do with another player? This showed that now we can’t play around.
“Everyone was scared! Everyone is scared with their position because this happened to Aubameyang. Of course, if anyone is not the captain of the team, does a small mistake, they are going to have the same problem, and no one needs that problem.”
The Insider’s View:
When Arteta decided to push Auba out of Arsenal, the entire fan base was divided. Not everyone agreed with his decision, and he received a ton of criticism – especially after we missed out on a top-four finish at the end of last season.
Now, almost everyone will agree that Arteta was right to do what he did.
Everyone at Arsenal is united now. There are no big egos at the club, and the positives of that are showing on the pitch. We’re on top of the league table, and many people now believe we have what it takes to push Manchester City until the very end.
Aubameyang is in the past now, nobody at Arsenal cares about him anymore. That will not change – even if he has a say in the game against Chelsea on Sunday. We’re fully behind Arteta and his decisions!
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