Alan Shearer has praised Mikel Arteta for his decision making over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arteta was ruthless over Aubameyang, who was made captain of Arsenal after his last new contract.
Though, since penning that new deal, the Gabon international has now particularly impressed, failing to match the levels he showed to earn the new deal.
Lack of form is one thing, but Aubameyang has also faltered off the field in recent weeks, failing to maintain the standards an Arsenal captain should have.
On the back of his actions, Mikel Arteta stripped Aubameyang of his captaincy and he hasn’t been included in any of the Gunners’ last four Premier League squads.
In his absence, Arsenal have been doing pretty well, winning all four games having lost three of the four games before that.
And with the evidence about as clear as it comes, Match of the Day pundit Shearer has praised Arteta for his decision.
“It was a big, brave decision from Arteta to do what he did because with a personality, who Aubameyang was, the captaincy on the salary that he’s on,” he said on BBC Match of the Day.
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“But he has to show discipline because he’s got a young team who he’s trying to send a message to. They now know that they can’t mess around; they can’t be late for training or whatever the situation is.
“And the players agree with the decision that Arteta’s made. Because you can tell in their performances. Arteta needed his players to back him up in terms of giving him the goals, giving him the performances and they’ve done that in style.”