Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports during their live coverage of Arsenal’s win against Tottenham on Sunday that he has been ‘disrespectful’ towards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Whilst a lot of the talk was about Aubameyang being dropped to the bench yesterday, Redknapp took back his previous comments about Arsenal’s speedster losing his ‘superpowers’.
Since the start of January in all competitions, Aubameyang has scored the joint-most goals (nine), level with the likes of Harry Kane and Ilkay Gundogan, which indicates he’s getting back to his best at the right time.
Before Arsenal’s could triumph in the North London derby on Sunday, Redknapp was called upon for those previous Aubameyang comments and he admitted that he got it wrong.
“Disrespectful I would say actually,” said Redknapp. “When you do our job like this, it was a frustration.
“I watched him play against Manchester City. He didn’t do anything, for me. I didn’t see a player that was running in beyond. I didn’t see a player that had that hunger or desire on that occasion.
“I was almost like that guy in the pub ‘he’s gone’. I was disrespectful and I would take it back because to talk about players who have done so much in the game. You shouldn’t do that.
“But sometimes you get emotional and frustrated. I am a huge fan of his. On and off the field, he can do more. I feel it’s so important players like him – I will take that back (my previous comments).”
Well, Aubameyang’s ‘superpowers’ weren’t needed yesterday as the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette helped Arsenal win the bragging rights of North London.
This was the first time Mikel Arteta tasted victory against Spurs as a manager, including a number of their academy products, such as Smith Rowe.
It could be argued that Smith Rowe was Man of the Match, with his movement off the ball and intention with it, causing Spurs many problems yesterday.
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