No Aubameyang...No Problem?

As Barcelona took on Athletic Madrid, the 65th minute brought a surreal moment to all Arsenal fans. They saw their former star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang come on as a substitute and his debut for the La Liga club. Many fans watching took to Twitter to ponder where it went so wrong between Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Aubameyang?

As reported before, Aubameyang’s disciplinary issues didn’t first arrive under Arteta. He struggled with, at the time, Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel on several occasions. So was it a final straw with Arteta, or was the evidence of dreadful performances all season from Aubameyang also another reason he was frozen out of the squad?

It’s apparent that Arsenal is begging to have a top striker under this Arteta system, and since he arrived as Arsenal’s manager, the club has yet to bring in any strikers. It seemed that this fact would change during the January window, but in reality, Arsenal brought in zero incoming signings and decided to vouch for a strong summer window.

With Aubameyang now out, the paranoia grows amongst fans about the difficulty of qualifying inside the top four in the Premier League. However, what should bring comfort to fans is the starting 11 since Aubameyang was dropped is still intact. While the depth is

gone, only 17 games are remaining, and barring another Granit Xhaka red card or Thomas Partey injury, Arsenal should be able to sustain their same starting 11 to finish the season.

For the remainder of the season, fans and sports pundits will debate the long-term question of whether it was the right decision to rid Aubameyang midway through the season. However, the short-term question this week is whether Arsenal will take up their same strong form of December or if they will fall flat. Their next match is February 10 against Wolves at the Emirates. Kickoff is at 2:45 pm eastern.