Mikel Arteta asks for 'respect and commitment' from his Arsenal players and insists he is not being 'dictatorial'

ByEurosport

Updated 24/12/2021 at 08:55 GMT

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored four times in the 14 Premier League matches in the 2021/22 season and is contracted at the north London club until 2023. However, he was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy earlier this month for disciplinary reasons by Mikel Arteta. Arteta says he is not attempting to be "dictatorial".

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he is not trying to be "dictatorial" after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is stripped of the captaincy.

Aubameyang lost the armband for ill discipline and has not been in Arteta's last four matchday squads.

The Spaniard insists he is simply asking for "respect and commitment" from his players and is not trying to be harsh on players.

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“I don’t establish my authority by being dictatorial or trying to be ruthless," he told reporters ahead of Arsenal's Premier League clash with bottom side Norwich City on Boxing Day.

“I just ask for one thing, it’s respect and commitment. That’s all. And if you don’t ask for that at this level, I think I pack my bags and I go somewhere else because that’s the minimum you can ask for.

“I am sorry but I am going to expect that (respect and commitment) from everybody who works for the club. First of all myself.

“And the day I don’t do that, I walk through that door and go and do something else. It is as clear as that.

To be successful you have to be passionate about something and you want to represent a club of this size with its history, that is the minimum standard you have to bring.

“I am not going to ask anybody to put the ball into the top corner every time they hit it, but I will ask them to do the right things every single day for this club. That is for sure.”

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Arsenal sit fourth in the Premier League table on 32 points after 18 games played; 12 points behind first place Manchester City.

Ahead of Norwich on Sunday, Arteta says Dean Smith's side do not deserve to be 20th in the Premier League table.

"I think they deserve much more from many, many games - in recent games as well," he said.

"Under Dean [Smith] they deserve better results and they haven't got them and we know at their place it will be a really difficult game.

"If the crowd is there as well you know how special it is on Boxing Day so we expect a tough match."

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