Kieran Tierney may be a more appropriate captain for Mikel Arteta’s inconsistent Arsenal side than the out-of-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, former Premier League chairman Simon Jordan has told talkSPORT (6 April, 11am).
It’s a sight we’ve got used to seeing this season – a bonafide footballing superstar sloping around the pitch, head bowed and a look of tired resignation etched on his once vivacious features.
Aubemeyang appears to have been hit harder than most by Arsenal’s latest annus horribilis, his formerly iron-clad self-confidence draining and his usually emphatic goalscoring record suffering as a result.
In 25 Premier League games, the former Dortmund talisman has scored just nine times, producing yet another anonymous performance in Saturday’s 3-0 trouncing at home to Liverpool.
Compare Aubameyang’s malaise with the form of Tierney, an old-school left-back who puts in top-quality performances week in, week out, even as those around him toil.
At the age of 23, Tierney already looks like a leader of men. It’s hard to imagine him being dropped for a crucial north London derby, his Lamborghini stuck in traffic a few hours before kick-off.
“I think he’s the embodiment of the modern-day footballer,” says former Crystal Palace chief Jordan, who wasn’t impressed by the way Aubameyang handled those high-profile contract discussions in 2020.
“All the nonsense in the summer, with the egg timers (on Twitter), annoyed me a little bit.
“Now we’re seeing another side of this player. When the going gets tough, he seems to be absent. I don’t think he’s a captain. I think (giving him the armband) is flawed. Perhaps someone like Kieran Tierney would be a better captain?”
Arteta has shown during his year-and-a-half at the helm he’s not afraid to make a big decision. Stripping Aubameyang of the captaincy, however, would really put the cat among the proverbial pigeons.
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