Mikel Arteta has corrected Unai Emery’s mistake of making Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang captain after his latest decision to strip the Arsenal captain of the club's captaincy.
It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that Aubameyang would no longer be the Gunners skipper after what appears to be a consistent breach of disciplinary rules.
The 32-year-old had been allocated the role of captain by Emery when he was the manager of the club back in 2019 in the wake of the decision to take the armband off of Granit Xhaka following his public fallout with supporters.
However, the decision to make him captain was certainly a questionable one and felt as much down to his ability to lead the team by example in the way of his goalscoring form at the time rather than any clear, tangible leadership qualities. And in the wake of Aubameyang's latest indiscretion, Arteta has moved swiftly to resolve the situation before it was allowed to create a negative impact amongst the players.
Explaining why he decided to make Aubameyang captain in 2019, Emery said: "The first is Aubameyang because he has the experience and he has the respect in the dressing room.
"He was the top scorer last year in the Premier League and also I know he needs time to take that responsibility 100 per cent. But we are going to support him.” He said.
"Every player, we are going to support the four captains, and we are going to support him as our first captain because he has also made one extra step to achieve that responsibility."
That rationale behind making him captain has ultimately proven to be an oversight and his selection highlights the lack of other viable contenders in the squad - and why Arsenal have had a character deficit in recent years.
Aubameyang has been excellent since joining Arsenal but scoring the number of goals he did and arguably being the best player or talisman in the squad did not mean he deserved to be awarded the captaincy at the time.
The role of captaincy entails different traits which are required if a player is to be effective.
It includes the responsibility of maintaining a level of behaviour in the squad, setting the correct examples and being the best bridge of communication for messages between the higher officials and the players.
It can be argued that Aubameyang has never been well equipped when it comes to these particular qualities, which was proven during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
The Gabonese international was suspended by Thomas Tuchel after breaching the rules ahead of a Champions League tie against Sporting Lisbon back in 2017.
The Bundesliga side would go on to sell the striker to the Gunners the next season after an attempt at repairing relations failed to restore harmony between player and club.
Xhaka's own indiscretion forced Emery into a corner at the time and he had to pick someone for the role. At the time, Aubameyang's credentials for the role did not mark him out as someone completely ill-equipped but the warning signs from his spell in Germany felt as if they were not heeded.
It should not be forgotten either that Arteta was the manager who pushed for Aubameyang to be given a new contract last year. And that came off the back of the kind of leading by example in the FA Cup semi-final and final that was emblematic of a captain. But the story over a longer period has fewer fond memories and this is also the latest example of an Emery problem he has inherited from his successor he has had to deal with.
Matteo Guendouzi might be the most high-profile example of this given Emery presided over his signing while neither manager was able to coax anything out of Mesut Ozil.
Emery's selection has ultimately not paid off though and where Arteta does deserve credit is that he has acted proactively to ensure that this issue does not cause more disruptions, which would have potentially had an even bigger detrimental impact among the other players in the squad.
Arsenal cannot allow the events of recent days to check their progress this term. Arteta's intervention to draw a line in the sand means there is no option but for everyone to rally together and move on.
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