Mikel Arteta is unsure whether captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be available for Tuesday’s return to Saint Mary’s.
The striker had been included in the matchday squad for today’s FA Cup defeat to Southampton but pulled out late to deal with a family matter.
While the boss wasn’t willing to go public on the specifics, he did hint Aubameyang, who scored twice on Monday against Newcastle, may need some time and that the club would give him all the support he needs.
“I don’t know [if he’ll be available], he needs to address that issue to see how it evolves,” he told his post-game press conference.
“We’re here, we will have to support him. He needs to take the time that is needed because that’s a priority at the moment.”
In Aubameyang’s absence, the Gunners produced a tepid performance in attack. Gabriel Martinelli squandered an early chance after making a clever run to connect with a free-kick and Eddie Nketiah snatched a couple of opportunities before Alex Lacazette was added to the mix.
They’ll need to do better in four days time.
I really hope this is nothing serious for Auba or his family.
Sound ominous I’m very worried for Auba. It’s not like our captain to pull out so last minute if it isn’t serious.
Praying for Auba and whatever issue is going :/
Martinelli will hopefully slot back in to the line up and we get back to winning on Tuesday and move forward for Auba while he’s out
Wishing well to my Auba. Would explain why he took off Marti mc fly early.
Our captain’s sudden absence from the game must have elected the players. It must have been something quite serious for him to pull out at short notice. Footballers are human and our team were obviously affected by our poor performance today.
Hopefully all is well with the family and he’ll be back on Tuesday all guns blazing
you could be right that whatever happened had some kind of influence but it’s rather strange to assume they were “obviously affected”
after all, we’ve played as bad or maybe worse plenty of times before. without KT, ESR and Saka, what did we expect? i would’ve been very surprised to see us play better than we did
Agree. Auba would obviously be affected but that is no excuse for the rest of the team. Do we break down in the office and if some colleague’s relative was hospitalised? No, we give a message of encouragement and get on with our work.
Please, just one interview when I don’t here the word ‘evolve’ from Arteta. I’m glad we are out of the FA Cup really, as it has masked our slide for too long. Foolheartedly convinced we are going to cane them on Tuesday though COYG
We have no excuses other than we weren’t good enough today. Southampton were the better team and deserved to win.
For what it’s worth, let’s focus on the PL now.
Our slide was always going to happen with the way this club is managed. So winning the FA cups have been fantastic, I love that we got to enjoy the cup over the past 10 years.
Yes. I hate it when my football club wins things too. How are we supposed to show the world how shit we are if we keep doing that?
Jesus wept.
Tierney, Saka, Partey, Smith-Rowe will give us a different dynamic.
I share the disappointment of today, but our attacking performance shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anybody with that starting lineup.
+Laca
Some things in life are far more important than football – and family is one of them.
I wish Auba and his family well.
Whatever it is I’m sending my best wishes to Auba. We suffered without him today but that’s immaterial where family matters are concerned. Hope he and his family are alright.
Hope it’s nothing serious for Auba, and that his family is safe and sound.
Btw. Don’t get me wrong, I would love for the guys to progress in the Cup, and maybe win. But this loss will give us a couple of more days to train and rest during this very special and very hectic season. Yes, it would be nice with a trophy, but the trophy is so far away at the moment, lots of matches needs to be played, and we can use this to focus on the league and Europe.
It’s Balogan time.
Balogan has an attitude problem. Kid needs to ditch the agent and lose the primadonna bs.
Can you explain the evidence of an attitude problem?
Looks like he’s on his way out so I’m not sure what contribution he’ll make.
What kind of way out? He wasn’t really in. He looks like a very talented and promising man. Let’s start the fight!
We are going overboard with ESR. His performances have been 7/10 at best. He is not the solution.
This sounds bad. I wish him and his family the best. Taking Willian and Pepe out and slotting Martinelli in place of Auba should give us a much better performance.
Sincerely hope whatever it is that Auba and his family pull through it stronger. Football is insignificant by comparison.