Arsenal icon Kevin Campbell believes Mikel Arteta has been vindicated when he stuck to his guns to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last season.<\/p>\n
The Gabon striker was stripped of his stripes as the Gunners captain after falling out with the Spaniard and subsequently made his way to Camp Nou briefly before ending up at Chelsea before former gaffer Thomas Tuchel was given the sack.<\/p>\n
Leaked footage had emerged earlier this month of the 33-year-old Gabonese sarcastically taking a swipe at his ex-Gunners manager Arteta\u00a0following his switch to Spain.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cTo manage big characters and big players, he can\u2019t deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then added: \u201cHe needs some young players who don\u2019t say anything, they just listen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arteta was slick and exercised great restraint in responding to Aubameyang\u2019s graceless claims and said instead he has never experienced a better dressing room than the one in this current campaign.<\/p>\n
Arsenal are now sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table by four points having won nine out of their opening ten matches with this their best ever start to a top-flight season, and Campbell, who won five major honors during his time at Highbury, has backed Arteta for having ultimately made the right call.<\/p>\n
Speaking to talkSPORT on behalf of Mr Gamble<\/em>, Campbell said: \u201cAubameyang saying Arteta couldn\u2019t deal with big players, you can say whatever you like I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll change anything.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the narrative from the Arsenal fans, when he left for Barcelona, scoring goals and Arsenal were struggling it was made out to be a huge mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cNow you don\u2019t hear anything about that because the team are functioning. Gabriel Jesus came in and he\u2019s doing a fantastic job at the top end of the pitch.<\/p>\n \u201cMost importantly, winning football matches cures everything and the amnesia about Aubameyang\u00a0starts to kick in.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s at Chelsea now and all the best to him, but ultimately football is all about getting results because it\u2019s a result driven business.<\/p>\n \u201cMikel Arteta has had a lot of tough decisions to make, and they are tough as a manager when you have to deal with big players like Aubameyang who can score a lot of goals at a fast rate.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think Arteta has been vindicated in the fact he got Aubameyang out of the dressing room and now it\u2019s starting to work for him and the football club.\u201d<\/p>\n Insofar as Arsenal\u2019s title tilt is concerned, Campbell has declared they still can\u2019t be considered as legitimate contenders after their collapse last term where they finished outside the top four.<\/p>\n He remarked: \u201cThere\u2019s a few more tests they need to go through if I\u2019m being honest.<\/p>\n \u201cSolely because this Arsenal group haven\u2019t done it before and with the way last season ended as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a difference this season, but you can\u2019t ignore the way last season ended when it was in Arsenal\u2019s hands to get into the Champions League.<\/p>\n \u201cThey couldn\u2019t take that chance and you can say it\u2019s partly because it\u2019s a young squad, injuries and whatever, but fans don\u2019t want to hear those sorts of excuses.<\/p>\n \u201cFans want you to get the job done, Mikel Arteta has reacted by recruiting correctly and now the team are built to withstand and overcome every obstacle.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve done pretty well so far considering they\u2019ve won nine out of ten Premier League games so far.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the mindset is key and having that change in mindset within the squad.<\/p>\n \u201cCredit has to go to Mikel Arteta and his staff for what they\u2019ve achieved so far.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there are many more hurdles and obstacles to come before anyone really says Arsenal are for real in terms of going for the title.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"