Graham Potter has insisted that this weekend’s London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal shouldn’t be made solely about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The focus is sure to be on the Gabon striker as he faces the Gunners for the first time since his acrimonious exit earlier this year. Aubameyang was ostracised from the senior Arsenal squad by Mikel Arteta for an alleged “disciplinary breach”.
The former skipper was allowed to leave The Emirates on a free transfer in January, initially joining Barcelona before returning to the capital at the end of the summer window. The public fall-out between Aubameyang and Arteta has remained in the headlines thanks to the fly-on-the-wall Amazon series which documented the entire saga.
In an advert released earlier this week, the veteran striker previews the clash at Stamford Bridge with a short message saying: “It’s nothing personal Arsenal” and Potter is adamant that is the case.
"It's a London derby, two good teams I think. Arsenal are doing really well and the history makes it an interesting one for Auba. But the past is the past as we're concerned,” the Chelsea boss explained.
"I don't think we should make it about him. He is an important part of the team for us but it takes everybody, not just one person. I understand the interest around him because it's Arsenal.
"I think he's looking forward to the game, excited for it. He's been pretty normal I say, quite a quiet guy."
Arteta is all too aware of Aubameyang’s threat and warned those still within the Arsenal dressing room that they will need to keep him quiet if they are to get a result. "Very dangerous. If Auba has something, it’s the ability to put the ball in the back of the net and he’s going to be doing that until the day that he decides he’s had enough of football,” the Spaniard said.
Chelsea take on their cross-city rivals coming off the back of a humbling thrashing by Brighton last time out in the Premier League. Potter’s side were routed by his former side 4-1 at the Amex, before returning to winning ways in the Champions League.
The clash against the Gunners marks Potter’s 11th game in the Chelsea dugout and he is happy with the progress made, while accepting there is still plenty left to do: “Objectively it's been seven wins, two draws and a defeat,” he added.
“There's been a lot of games in a short space of time, so actual training time has been very limited. We're getting to know the players all the time and I'm really happy with the response of the group.
“Performance wise we can do more and improve, that's exciting. But at the same time, when you look at the mess of the fixtures and the injuries, we've done ok. But there is room to improve.”
