Arsenal are a club that can't seem to get out of their own way.
Having started the season in shocking form and then turning things around, they have stuttered at times in recent weeks.
Just when Mikel Arteta thought he was starting to build the team in his image, off-field issues have once again become a distraction. It was announced today that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been stripped of the club captaincy, with The Athletic reporting that the issue stemmed from another instance of the player's poor time keeping.
The Gabon international was previously take out of the side for a North London derby last year after being repeatedly late for team activities.
This latest incident seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back, with Paul Merson believing the captaincy change had been a long time coming.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the former Arsenal star said that it was time for Aubameyang to lose the captaincy and that he seemed like a strange choice for the armband in the first place.
This is not the first time this has happened with Aubameyang.
He turned up late for a meeting before and got left out of the side to face Tottenham. He's the example. There are a lot of young players in that team who will look up to him.
He wouldn't be the captain if I was manager. Absolutely no chance. Once, yes. Twice, no. It's an honour to be captain of Arsenal and for me, something's had to change now.
I didn't really get it in the first place if I'm being honest. But it does show you that he sets an example, and the youngsters look up to him. That's why he was made captain.
If you are the manager, of course you'd be disappointed. He's been made captain of Arsenal Football Club. It's a big thing and not just a run-of-the-mill thing. And with all the promising young kids at the club, he needs to set the example.
There are a lot of young kids at Arsenal. They've got a young squad. He's the captain, he's on big wages and he needs to lead by example. This has happened too many times.
How many times do you see Arsenal play well and Aubameyang doesn't play well?
He does set the tone. A couple of weeks ago they played well against Newcastle and he started it all off. He worked his socks off and they follow him.
He's got to set a better example off the field, and fair play to Arteta.
It takes a lot to do something like this, especially when you are on a bit of a run and it's gone the other way.
It's okay when you are winning nine or 10 on the trot and you can make these kinds of decisions a bit easier, but when you are making a decision like that when you are trying to get a result, fair play to him.
Of course, this is not the first incident of an Arsenal captain losing the position over the last few years. Granit Xhaka was infamously removed from the role after clashing with the club's supporters in 2019.
Considering his inconsistent form and massive wages, you'd imagine Arsenal will be looking to move on from Aubameyang in the months ahead.
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