Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Unai Emery, fan TV, laughing stock

David Ornstein is now reporting that Arsenal players are unhappy with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s association with AFTV. The whole captaincy debacle, led by Unai Emery, makes the club look like a laughing stock.

Well, if you thought Arsenal’s season could not get any worse, you were wrong. Because, on Monday morning, the latest report in a long line of explosive revelations exposes the growing fractions between fanbase, dressing room, players, coaches, and now captain.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Unai Emery out, again

The Granit Xhaka debacle is still fresh in everyone’s minds. Not only did his time as captain come to an abrupt and contentious end earlier this year; he was never really the esteemed, revered leader to begin with. Unai Emery maddeningly delayed the process of appointing Xhaka as Laurent Koscielny’s successor, hinting at his reservations regarding the decision, before only going ahead with the appointment because a player vote told him to.

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Upon further caution and hesitation, Emery eventually stripped Xhaka of the captaincy, seemingly after a non-apology from the midfielder, who said what everyone says when they are apologising for something that they do not think is wrong. Emery then followed protocol, turning to second-in-line, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to lead the squad as captain.

But now there are problems with this, too. According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, the Arsenal players are not overly pleased that Aubameyang is now the captain given his close relationship with AFTV and his social media interactions ostensibly criticising Emery and Xhaka. Here are the crucial excerpts from Ornstein’s report:

"“But The Athletic has learned the decision to remove the armband from Xhaka and then hand it to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has divided opinion inside the North London club <…> The 30-year-old striker is said to have irritated some people by developing a relationship with AFTV, the YouTube channel that calls itself the “Unofficial Voice of Arsenal fans around the world <…> The Gabon international appearing to “like” a number of contentious AFTV posts on Instagram, including one in June criticising Emery and another in September calling for Xhaka to be sold in the next transfer window, is said to have left team-mates and staff unimpressed.”"

Whichever way you want to slice it, this whole ordeal has been handled shambolically, from Emery’s initial decision to delay whoever was to be named captain, to then asking the players for their input when he should have had a better handle of the pulse of the dressing room, to appointing the man he was going to appoint anyway, to then stripping him of the captaincy and handing it to a teammate who players are not especially pleased with.

And then you throw AFTV into the heart of this debate, with players’ interactions with fans a serious issue given the Xhaka moment, the abuse Shkodran Mustafi has suffered in recent years, and the general toxic nature of the club and fanbase, and it is quite clear: Arsenal and their fans are a laughing stock.

Aubameyang will remain the captain, despite his teammates’ doubts. But he must tidy up his social media. Liking critical posts of the club, the head coach and players is not the behaviour of a positive, encouraging leader. But the fans must also take some responsibility here, too. They are supporters, not customers.

In the end, the whole debacle shows one very plain and painful thing: Arsenal are in a mess, from Emery to Xhaka; from Aubameyang to AFTV. This will take quite some sorting out.