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Arsenal squad are ‘scared’ of Arteta after Aubameyang axe, Elneny admits

Mohamed Elneny, Arsenal
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The Gunners boss made a shock decision to freeze Aubameyang out of his squad last season.

Mohamed Elneny has revealed Arsenal players are scared to lose their positions after Mikel Arteta’s disciplinary punishment of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Arteta made a surprise decision to strip Aubameyang of the Arsenal captaincy before completely freezing him out of the Gunners squad.

The Gabonese star left Arsenal to join Barcelona as a free agent last January. He then made a return to the Premier League by joining Chelsea in the summer.

However, his departure from the club seems to have had a lasting effect on his Arsenal teammates.

“Everyone looked at themselves because Mikel did that to the captain of the team, so what is he going to do with another player?” Elneny said.

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“This showed that now we can’t play around, now we have to be calm with the team. The way the team is going, we have to stick together, not do something different.

“We agree with what Mikel decided because he is our boss, and we just have to agree what his vision is for us. I think it unified us because now everyone was scared. Everyone is scared with their position because this happened to Aubameyang.

“We don’t allow big egos. This is the dressing room we have now. Everyone loves each other and everyone works for each other. This is what actually makes our squad really strong, because we don’t have egos in the team.

“Of course if anyone is not the captain of the team, and does a small mistake, they are going to have the same problem, and no one needs that problem.”

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