Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Mikel Arteta will be the club captain this season, with Per Mertesacker his vice-captain.
The Spaniard is one of the manager’s most trusted men, and his influence and leadership qualities – on and off the pitch – have convinced the Frenchman to give him the armband.
The former Everton man is greatly respected by the players and was a fairly obvious choice in the wake of Thomas Vermaelen’s departure.
Mertesacker as his second in command will ensure that the Arsenal dressing room is a place where discipline is key, but neither player would ever be accused of setting a poor example.
Congratulations to Mikel, and let’s hope that today’s trophy lifting is not the last of his tenure.
YES MATE
Knowing Wenger, I would have been taken aback had he chosen differently….but then stranger things have happened this summer alone
Ridiculous, doesn’t deserve to start and the captains armband allows him to do that…
That’s why Vermaelen played so much?
Yeah, I mean – why give it to one of our most consistent, reliable players and somebody who shows real leadership and all the players respect?
arteta doesn’t lead the team, when do you ever see him taking control of the team like BFG does or Scz does, arteta is not good enough
Szcz for captain? lol
I’m glad we have a source who has spent so much time around the club, be it at training, in the dressing room or behind the scenes in general. Contribution will be valuable. The recent appointment does beg the question of why we don’t by a bloke who has the highest decibel shout in world football and give him the armband. Because as we all know well, leadership is volume. Just ask Tim Sherwood, he had a great shout on him. That’s a real leader. Completely agree with you. Sign Steve McNulty and give him the armband is my suggestion.
You and i aren’t watching the same games… Arteta is one of wenger’s best signings and i wish him to retire at Arsenal. You are a heretic, go away.
There’s all this nonsense about Arteta is not as good as he used to be blah blah lacks pace – I don’t honestly see a much of a physical change and if anyone knows about that physicality the best, it would be Wenger, who played Arteta a few games less. What I see is that with the introduction of Ozil, and a more attack-oriented team, but that had not yet quite settled, we were, generally, more exposed at the back as opposed to a season where we ended focusing the majority of our efforts on defense. Probably a good highlight… Read more »
“and the captains armband allows him to do that…”
Like in Vermaelen’s case?
To be fair, I know what hes talking about. I love Arteta and all, and he deserves the armband, but I would have preferred Mertersacker as captain to be honest. Simply for the reason that who knows how long arteta has got left in him. (I was sure I saw he only has 1 year left on his contract?). Where Mertersacker is more a figure that could lead the Arsenal for years to come. Either way, the official title of who is and who is not captain should not make much of a difference. We have a wealth of experience… Read more »
But if we sign a DM, he’ll get benched and we’ll have another Vermaelen situation.
If by “Vermaelen situation” you mean a committed and quality player being kept out by other committed and quality players yet stepping up to the mark when called upon, I personally don’t mind a “Vermaelen situation.”
I think his point is that it would have been useless to make Arteta captain if we had a DM coming in to replace him. Which is true. Would have preferred if Mertesacker got it, but we only see what goes on on the Pitch.
Adding to that, we won’t sign a new DM
I could be wrong, but making arteta captain indicates to me that we wont be signing a world class CDM this season.
We were never going to get a “world class” CDM. The only world class ones are Busquets, Javi Martinez and to an extent Mascherano. The obsession with the term “world class” has to stop. And making Arteta captain doesn’t mean we won’t get a DM if AW wants a DM.
Well, Arteta could always play alongside a CDM, or even push forward. That’s where he really made his name. At the very least, with his Xavi-esque passing, he would circulate possession, something Flamini fails to do. There are only maybe a handful of teams where Arteta’s lack of pace is really exposed. Otherwise, he’s quite a good foil to our more attack-minded players.
Using Arteta as a CM is slightly pointless. He doesn’t quite have the legs to burst into the box on a regular basis (albeit probably the best long shots in the squad bar Podolski), so he’d crowd out Ramsey/Wilshere.
I’m a fan of this
I hope he grows a hilarious captain beard.
This would be amazing.
Captain Haddock style.
But would it be as infinite and immaculate as his hair? I would prefer a nice fat handlebar that could catch a free kick with a nudge.
Based on his hair, “hilarious” is one word that could not be used to describe any beard he might grow.
You can get Lego beards – my kid has a Lego pirate and a Lego hagrid
Personally I would have chosen bfg. He is going to get more minutes on the pitch than arteta and could possibly be around longer than arteta. Having said that…. Arteta does have all the qualities to be a great captain and I hope he keeps fit and keeps performing well.
Captain of the club and captain on the pitch, slight difference. BFG is vice captain anyway so he’ll probably be captain on the pitch if Arteta does not play.
Top, top professional Arteta. Love the guy, but if I’m being totally honest, we needed an upgrade to him, especially in the big games where he is easily run over.
William Carvalho could’ve been that final piece, but looks like Wenger is happy with Arteta.
But hell, with an attack like that, there’s no wrong in believing.
Bring it, new season!
While it’s true that Arteta can occasionally lacks the legs, I think we’re feeding a little too much into media hype if we think that a lack of a big tough DM is the reason we got battered. We coped more than competently against the same top sides at home (and indeed, Dortmund and Bayern away) and yet given that those sides would tend to play more on the counter-attack at their own home grounds than at the Emirates (comparatively), the argument that they all score by running faster than Arteta doesn’t hold. We could definitely improve by having an… Read more »
Thank you for this intelligent analysis rather than repeating the media and internet bs about the reason for the Liverpool and Chelsea defeats. Brazil only conceded 7 against Germany with a “world class DM”. Arteta was excellent today and given his experience and intelligence, coupled with the respect that the other players have for him, he will play the majority of games this season.
Quick correction: I meant “those sides would tend to play more on the counter-attack at the Emirates than their own home grounds (comparatively)”, in that they’re more proactive at home.
No big shock. Bfg for me though- aerial views an that.
At the end of the day when he’s not on the pitch bfg will be, either man as captain will do me..
This is great news! I would have loved to have Per as the Captain but this makes a lot of sense as well
Alex mate, are you one of these people who wonder why we don’t sign Messi??
Once we sign Hummels, the BFG’s place will be under threat…
Congrats to Mikel!
Whoever has the time, search back the AN archives and see that someone suggested it was risky giving the armband to Vermaelen was when Arsene named him a captain and got thumbed down to oblivion.
Let that be a lesson. Think before you Thumb 🙂
Well, it wasn’t risky. Vermaelen was an excellent captain when he was playing, and a great professional when he wasn’t.
Some very nice messages from Vermaelen on Facebook and Twitter just now. I really do wish him all the best. And I hope twats like Nasri take note that leaving Arsenal isn’t what gets you booed like a panto villain, behaving like a little shite does. (Has he never noticed that no one boos Clichy?)
Anyway, best of luck to our new skip and vice-skip, and to our just-departed skip. I’m proud to have humble, hard workers representing the club.
Definitely, you missed when Clichy’s name was announced before Kickoff Today!
Thought he did a good job on the pitch last year so fair do’s. Played well today looked a little sharper and fitter I think we could have a great season.
I would’ve liked to see Per as captain but it wouldn’t really be fair to overlook the guy who was playing as captain pretty much all of last season. Arteta deserves it really.
I would assume this means no extra defensive midfielder arriving but stranger things have happened I suppose. I think we’ll just see a centre back arrive and that’ll be our lot.
Good call……he should have an armband made of Lego?
You can say all you want, Arteta is the captain and thats it!!
Mr Wenger. Could I ask you to take a minute to talk about one aspect of your management that I am a loss to explain. Simply put, could you watch Mikel Arteta. I think that you should look at the stats regarding our heaviest defeats last season. Look at the way that Arteta played in those games. He isn’t doing the DM job. He is also slow in the transition from defence to attack. He isn’t young anymore and like most sportsmen in the twilight of their careers you find that mentally as well as physically they don’t take as… Read more »
You are completely incorrect in your analysis and Wenger is correct, as usual.
Fair play to Mikel. He’s been such an important signing for the club. Sure, he’ll not win you a title on his own, but he gives a hell of a lot of fucks about the club, he came when we were at an all time low and rolled his sleeves up and fought his arse off week in week out. I’m really pleased for him and hope he can lift a few more cups before he goes.
Makes me feel queasy. I was hoping to see far less of Arteta this season. I do think he is a relatively weak link in the team. This makes me queasy he will play a lot. Great squad player but is it really too much to ask to give the captain’s armband to someone who unquestionably is a first 11 starter?!
This is becoming like the Defence Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts.
For all intents and purposes he was already the captain on the pitch last year, and as our captain has already brought us the FA Cup. It is now highly unlikely that we’ll sign a DM, but you know what? I don’t really care. Arteta was as consistent as ever today, and certainly showed no signs of being too old or slow against the likes of Navas, Toure and Silva.
At any rate, congratulations to Arteta for finally being the official captain. Well earned!
Happy with either him, or Per as captain.
I personally think this may be Arteta’a best year yet.
I felt he was slow and ponderous last year, and we could upgrade, but he was far better with Ramsay than without (Arteta’s bad patch coincided with Ramsey’s injury in my opinion) and having had a full summers rest, more dynamic players around him and another years experience, I expect him to step up.
I think to say we don’t care that he may not be consistent enough to lead us to the title because he is a good guy and clearly a top pro (and a fine player) is defeatist. I like the way this squad is coming together but in the last 2 seasons I think arteta’s weaknesses (lack of physicality esp late in games, zero pace, propensity for silly costly fouls) grow steadily more evident. I worry he will get more games now than he deserves. Without talking about possible signings I know nothing about for DM I think Flamini is… Read more »
On a side note – My god, how good has Gibbs been in the last 2 seasons? Much better Defensively than Baines and Shaw, while also good going forward. Academy player, English and a Gooner! Such an asset at left back.
Arteta is in the last year of his contract and may be leaving after this season. Maybe Wenger sees him as a perfect short term captain option until Ramsey is ready to take over for next year. If Ramsey is named vice-vice-captain then I think we’ll have our answer..
Love Mikel as a professional but think we need a captain who the other players know not only is a fixture in the starting eleven but deserves to be there. Almost seems a easy/lazy choice but then again I’m not in the locker room. Here’s hoping Arsene had a chat with a few of the boys before making this call
In other words wenger’s indirectly saying we’re not signing a dm…big surprise.
Arteta, Mertesacker are both worthy captains, I would have had it the other way around but I won’t complain – good choice
NO surprise to anyone other than those spouting the ‘we need a effing big atheletic DM mantra” 1) Arteta will be our top asset in the middle. he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He is also captain. replacing someone familiar to the 2 main Cbacks this late into season is risky at best no matter how strapping the new DM may be. 2) Flamini and Chambers are viable back up for one position. There is also Diaby of course. he may leave if a buyer is found but that would be difficult indeed on account of his injury prone nature.… Read more »
I don’t see how it’s “spouting a mantra” to want a high quality central midfielder brought in. At the moment we have Ramsey, and potentially Wilshere (if he stays fit and can recapture his earlier form, and if CM rather than the 10 position is his best role). Arteta, Flamini, etc. are good players, but I don’t think there’s much doubt that they’re the weak link in the starting 11 (one of them will play, as it stands). I think at the moment we’re in danger of: 1) overplaying Ramsey 2) being hit on the break / getting overrun by… Read more »
Call me cynical, but while I think Arteta is a perfect fit to be our new captain, I wish Wenger had gone for longevity with Mertesacker. Arteta has all the traits to be a great captain, but I fear he won’t be around for much longer and within 18 months or so we’ll have to choose a new one.
Can I ask as its a comment I have seen posted a lot now… Why does it matter if Arteta has been named captain only to be allowed to leave next summer? Did I miss the rule where it stipulates that captains must maintain the responsibility for 10 years? So what if it is only for one year, I don’t get this whole, it should have been Per for longecity bullshit. It does not matter in the slightest if we have to change our captain next season again, not.one.bit. Arteta was the de facto captain last year with TV5 not… Read more »
I’m not saying it’s a bad thing Arteta has the armband – I think he deserves it as much as you do.
But “longevity” does matter. In my opinion having a captain who is around for a while is much healthier than replacing a captain every 12 months or so. It provides stability and continuity.