Chelsea fans were quick to criticise Graham Potter for the exclusion of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang from Chelsea’s Champions League squad after the loss to Borussia Dortmund and some were left even more baffled after the forward was not selected at all for the squad against Southampton in which Chelsea did not end up scoring a goal.
Matt Law from The Telegraph reports that this decision, amongst others, have been taken “in collaboration with the Chelsea board”.
I personally have a horrible feeling that the higher ups having something personal against Aubameyang having been a Tuchel led signing.
Yes, Aubameyang has not performed the best for Chelsea up front but who has? Kai Havertz is inconsistent, David Fofana looks raw and Aubameyang provides much needed experience and out and out goalscoring ability that the others do not.
It makes no sense to keep excluding him from squads and this is another red flag against Potter and the ownership.
🚨 Aubameyang being left out of the Champions league squad and not being selected for the last 3 league games was a decision taking in collaboration with the Chelsea board. (@Matt_Law_DT) #CFC
— Pys (@CFCPys) February 20, 2023
Amid a re-build it actually makes total sense to leave a player (Auba) who has no future with the club out of the squad. Any minutes he’s given just slow the process of the new signings finding their chemistry. And, besides that, Auba has never set a particularly strong veteran example for the younger players, as his work rate, let alone his form, was quite poor in his last couple of outings. Rather than bemoaning Auba’s benching, why aren’t we talking about the missed opportunity to recall Lukaku (who has physical attributes found nowhere else in the squad)?