Onuoha cites Aubameyang example to buttress his point Arteta is creating principles at Arsenal 

Nigerian-born former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha cited Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to buttress his point Mikel Arteta is creating principles at Arsenal. 

The Gabonese striker fell out with Arteta in his last few months as an Arsenal player after the Spanish coach stripped him of the captaincy due to disciplinary issues. 

Aubameyang was frozen out of the Gunners squad before sealing a transfer to Barcelona, from where he moved to Chelsea in the summer window. 

Arteta stuck to his guns not to field the 2015 African Footballer of the Year despite pressure from fans. 

Having strengthened the squad with the signing of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, plus the return of William Saliba, Arsenal have been on a different level this season, and there is belief they can return to the Champions League at the end of the campaign. 

Speaking on BBC 5 Live just before the start of the Premier League game between Leeds United and Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, Onuoha said : "With regards to Arteta, legacy is a big thing. From the outside we just see the performances but the impact that a manager can have on his players and the way that they perceive the game can be huge.

"When the [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang thing was going on and people were saying that you had to play him, Arteta was creating principles and showing to those players that this is the way, if you want to play professionally and do well, you cannot do this."

Onuoha continued : "For those players, they see the manager, they take his lead and that sort of mentality means that when they come into the team culture, this is what you're buying into. As opposed to some who come, don't really have an impact and then they just disappear.

"The players get it, they're working really hard at it and the manager is giving them messages that we do what we can for the team. Success is not always guaranteed but improvement can and will happen.

"We're seeing that within the team. There is a shift in mentality at Arsenal and a lot of that is down to Arteta."

This season, Arsenal have picked up 27 points from a possible thirty and their only blip was a 3-1 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit : arsenal.com

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