Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
‘Should’ve put his ego to the side’: Anton Ferdinand can’t believe what Mikel Arteta has done
Anton Ferdinand has hit out at Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for his decision to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January.
The 37-year-old was speaking about the Gunners situation on the latest episode of .
Arsenal and Aubameyang went their separate ways after a deterioration in his relationship with Arteta.
The Gunners boss stripped the 32-year-old of the captaincy in December following a series of disciplinary issues.
Arteta then left Aubameyang behind as the squad traveled to Dubai for a winter training break at the end of January.
The Gabon international went on to join Barcelona on a free transfer, signing a contract until June 2025.
Aubameyang has scored 10 goals and registered one assist in 16 appearances for Xavi’s side.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have suffered a downturn in form, losing three league games in a row.
The Gunners – now with just two senior strikers in their ranks – have netted just once in those three games.
As a result, Arsenal’s hopes of a top-four finish are now in jeopardy.
And Ferdinand simply couldn’t believe what Arteta has done.
“You should be in the top four with the games that you’ve had in hand and the run that you’ve had,” he told Joel Beya.
“Then all of a sudden you’ve got Nketiah playing up front for you.
“But you had Aubameyang. Do you not think, regardless of what’s happened off the pitch, the problems he might’ve been causing…
“As a manager you’re paid to deal with that and make sure that the players are doing their job on the pitch.
“Do you not think that Arteta should’ve put his ego to the side, made him understand that the world of football was watching you?
“Because it’s been put on blast to the world about your antics. Come and score 20 goals just for after the season for us and that shuts everybody up.
“And then you can get rid of him in summer.”
Arteta really messed up on the striker front – TBR View
It’s been a rollercoaster season for Arsenal, who started atrociously, did well in between, and are now struggling again.
Injuries to key players have been unfortunate and Arteta can’t really get the blame for that. After all, strength in depth takes time.
But offloading a world-class striker for free when already short of numbers at centre-forward and not bringing in any replacement – that could well go down as one of the greatest managerial blunders of all time.
If Arsenal fail to make the top four this season, questions really need to be asked of Arteta’s suitability for the job.