MIKEL ARTETA was ‘wrong and disrespectful’ to ‘publicly shame’ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after dropping him for the North London derby, according to Piers Morgan.
The Gunners captain turned up late for the 2-1 victory over bitter rivals Tottenham at the Emirates on Sunday and Arteta axed him from the starting XI as a result.
Spaniard Arteta told the media there had been a disciplinary breech but did not go into any more detail.
Aubameyang, 31, was said to be shocked and angry at the decision and the fuming Gabon striker did not even take part in the post-match warm-down with the other unused subs.
And former Good Morning Britain presenter and Gunners fan Morgan seems to be channelling the same energy.
Having apparently been stewing on the situation, Morgan tweeted on Tuesday: “The more I think about the Aubameyang/Arteta thing, the less I like it.
“Turning up a bit late shouldn’t warrant being dropped for a NLD, and for our manager to publicly shame our captain & best player in the way he did was wrong & disrespectful.
“I stand with @Auba. #afc.”
The post received more more than 2,700 likes and 2,300 comments.
It has since emerged Arteta will not take the captaincy off the forward but he is still determined to maintain the discipline within his squad.
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On the very day he was appointed as Unai Emery’s successor, manager Arteta, 38, spelled out exactly what he expected from his players.
He warned: “I want to get everyone at the club to accept a different way of thinking because if you don’t have the right culture in difficult moments the tree is going to shake.
“My job is to convince everyone that this is how we are going to live from now on. And if you are going to be a part of this, it has to be on these terms and in this way.”
And to be fair to Arteta, he has been as good as his word ever since.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
