The news that Per Mertesacker is to miss a significant period of next season through injury is a blow for Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger already admitting that he’s seeking a replacement for the 31 year old who joined the club in August 2011.
There’s another issue that the Arsenal manager will have to contend with though: who will be his captain next season? It was widely expected that the BFG would be named club captain – as one of the most experienced, long-standing, and widely respected members of the squad it made sense, even if it wasn’t a guaranteed starter in every game.
Now, it seems that Wenger will have to have a rethink in that regard. He’s always viewed the captaincy a little differently to many fans – stressing the need for collective responsibility and leadership over that of one individual, but there’s also no doubt a good captain can have some influence.
So, who might be the men to step up in Mertesacker’s absence. The obvious candidates are:
Laurent Koscielny – He’s now going into his 7th season at the club since joining in 2010, and is one of the team’s most experienced players. Not a shouter per se, more a lead by example performer.
Petr Cech – Vastly experienced and now retired from international football to focus fully on club football. Main issue is keeper as captain doesn’t really have the on-field influence people crave.
Aaron Ramsey – The Welshman has been at Arsenal since 2008, few players have a longer tenure than him, Wenger loves him, and midfield is a very natural position for a captain to come from. Again though, not a hugely vocal player, but would be sure to say nothing controversial. Or exciting.
Maybe Wenger could even go a bit left-field and appoint Granit Xhaka, who was captain of Borussia Mönchengladbach before joining the Gunners in a £35m deal this summer. He has spoken about his leadership qualities and we know he was given a key to his house at an early age which very clearly makes him a good choice to captain a football team.
It would be something of a surprise though due to the fact he’s new and probably needs to settle into English football without the added pressure of the captaincy.
If we had to put money on it, we’d probably go for Koscielny or Ramsey. Let’s see what the manager decides.
This one is definitely different from Arteta. Sure, Mikel spent most of the season out injured, but at least he went in expecting to be fit. A season-long injury is a different story, especially when our BFG has only 1 year left on his deal.
Can I just say I haven’t posted for quite sometime. I used to post on here all the time. You see, I got into a long term relationship and it was just amazing, long walks, picnics, putting cotton wool in each other’s noses, the usual couple stuff. I stopped caring so much about squad numbers, team sheets and transfer rumors as I had something more tangible which didn’t make me want to scream at a tv or hold my head in my hands. Unfortunately she’s gone, leaving me emotionally maimed and world weary and I find myself back on here,… Read more »
Welcome back. Embrace our collective cathartic bosom.
so similar to a typical arsenal season then ?
You think after you’ve been messing around with that wench, having your cake and eating it, you can come crawling back to us without so much as a bunch of petrol station flowers and we’ll just be here waiting for you like nothing’s happened, eh? EH??? Ok, yeah. You’re right.
Seriously, at least make an effort to reply to the comment above you, man!
whalecum back haha
Why not be different to every other club and appoint three joint captains – goalie, defence and midfield/attack captains? Cech, Kos and Ramsey.
More captains, more communication, more perspective, more leadership.
And if not, why not?
Why not three joint managers, goalie, defence and midfield/attack ? Even Spurs haven’t done that yet.
You’re a captain! And you’re a captain! And you’re a captain! Screw it, we’re all captains!! Except you Theo, you’re still shit.
Captain Jack ..
You’re getting your liquors mixed up.
Sparrow or Harkness? 🙂
But seriously, I though Santi was 3rd in line when fit. However I also like the idea of Cech – somehow I think he would be perfectly capable of captaining from goal…
I also think it will be Cazorla. Especially in a central distribution role, he would be ideal in my opinion. And despite his diminutive size he’s still got that Spanish flair.
Cech spent too much time with Chelsea. Weird to put him Arsenal captain after one year with us. For me, it has to be Koscielny but that treatment he let Costa give him….
Captain Laurent ..
No. I like Koscielny but he gets a bit too downtrodden after we don’t get the result we need. Wasn’t it after the 0-0 draw with Southampton back in January where he was squatting with his head hung in disappointmend and Petr Cech came up to him and lifted him to his feet? It was definitely in one of those games. Not sure about Ramsey. He’s one of those who’s ‘a bit too nice’ to be captain and doesn’t seem to have any notable leadership qualities other than setting an example by working hard in every game. For me, Cech… Read more »
Xhaka will be a great leader for the team with the armband or without. A far lighter conundrum that our current striker problem, a welcome distraction!
You are forgetting Walcott ?
Hoo boy, I got a chuckle out of that.
If only to lessen the impact of the captaincy curse…
Surprised Cazorla wasn’t mentioned. One of our senior players and a guaranteed starter and very vocal.
Small hands.
No big deal.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbrEstLWAAAmJpG.jpg
Im surprised too expecially as he has captained us quite a few times
Honestly wouldn’t mind Santi for a year, until Xhaka can take over. Leading by positive reinforcement…
He hasn’t even played for us yet?
The thought of Ramsey is exciting, but my money would be on Laurent
Traditions should be preserved. Theo should be the undisputed choice.
On another note, I think Yedder will do us a “striker”
To me should be Cech or Koscielny as you know both will be starting just about every match, Ramsey isn’t an assured starter.
That’s my thinking as well, though I think if Ramsey can regain his league form, he will be an Arsenal captain one day.
Ozil and Alexis are sure starters too if that’s anything to go by.
No Cap’n Jack?
Not unless you want your captain to be in the treatment room for a large portion of every season.
Imagine a permacrook with the captains armband at Arsenal. That´s the perfect storm of injuries.
How about Sanchez, seems like a natural leader
Cazorla in an interview said Sanchez doesn’t like meetings, watching videos etc…He only likes playing.
Give it to sanchez he’s the only one that’s a guaranteed starter and the only one that really looks like he gives a fuck when the chips are down the rest just seem to throw the arms up or a shrug.
This
is Spartaaaaaa!
Yeah, don’t just leave things hanging around.
Now we really can call him Bosscielny
Whoever it is, I’d like them to stand-up for a team mate if we ever end up in Costa-like situations…
Am I the only one that sees leadership qualities in Coquelin?
yes
Santi is a no brainer surely.Guaranteed first team with experience to boot. These Ramsey suggestions are ridiculous, bang average player.
Yeah, one of the most influential player in a team that got to the european semi’s and midfielder who scores double-digits goals is bang average. Get a grip.
I suspect Koscielny will be given the band, but it could be worth looking at Özil as captain. While he doesn’t shout at the team he’s always talking to them (more so as the seasons go on) and he has very good English as well as a highly respected talent so it’s hard to think his thoughts would be bad. Would love to have Coquelin get the band personally, but I think his position could become a bit too flexible this season to be considered a guaranteed starter, as much as I think he would be great. Can see Wingerworth… Read more »
You surely dont want another captain curse materialized dont you? Van Pursestring + Fabregas
so Feo it is?
Can’t live in fear!
(But if Özil goes I’ll cry for a week)
A captain has to be a guaranteed starter, given that we complain that there isn’t enough leadership on the field when the going gets tough.
Scarasam “There is no one more guaranteed to start than Sanogo (or is he also out injured)!”
Going on how injured our captain’s get, I’d buy Costa and give it to him! Or RVP and give it to him, he was always injured anyway….
Monreal!
Given the captain curse (Gallas, Fabregas, RVP, Verm, Arteta now Mert) that seems to manifest in either our best players leaving or getting totally banjaxed, my vote is for Theo or Yaya… or who knows maybe the curse goes both ways and we give it Jack and he suddenly develops an Adamantium skeleton…
Arsene should put his money where his mouth is and just send out the team with 11 captains.
Surely this will be Vermalaen after his loan spell ends with Barca?? In reality, it’s not a big deal and will be Kosc
For me Santi would be great as long as someone takes charge sorting the defence out when needed!
Cech or Santi for me. The Ramsey one isn’t a bad shout, a typical Wenger pick tbh. Jack is the dark horse though.
He sacrificed himself to force us to buy a CB. What better leader can you find?
Kinda like that scene in ‘Escape to victory’ where michael kane breaks the goalie’s arm, so sylvester stallone can get out of the cooler. Kinda like that anyway.
First action Colman took when taking over Wales was to take captaincy from Ramsey. Hasn’t looked back since. Anyway Ramsey has put himself in shop window a la Song. Good luck with that!
Santi – I’m pretty sure hes deputised for captaincy when Merts has been captain.
Apart from that, Sanchez would be a great choice.
Definitely not Alexis, he’s not a team player (yet) and I’m actually quite disappointed how little progress he’d made in this respect in the past two years.
We’ve had non playing captains since Vermaelen had the armband
Can’t we retire the armband? It’s cursed at The Arsenal
*shudders*
Why not 11 co-captains
And injure the entire team at once?
In reality Per will remain captain though right?! Wenger thinks the of the captain as a club captain. Kos will be the on-field captain, See… Vermaelen / Arteta and Arteta/Per from previous seasons.
Hmm…. New CB needed, and a new skipper. Who though…..if only there were an experienced CB from, say, another london club, who has many years of captaincy experience. What if this player had just had a massive pay cut, and therefore may be up for a move. ‘Hello John, it’s Ivan here. Got a proposition for you…..’.
There’s like no chance he’s gonna name a different captain just because of this. And it doesn’t even matter. We have several leaders in this team, they all just need to knuckle down and play to their potential and lead each other as we know they can
I’d go with Koscielny but I think a dark horse candidate would be Ozil.
Ozil is the ultimate “lead by example” guy and if he was Captain it might make him realize how important he is to this team, and how we need him to not only provide assists, but to SCORE GOALS, too.
I will be proud to have Sanchez as captain! But Kos fits the balance and we know Cech has the experience and character to lead! Difficult one… Wenger is wise enough to pick. We all are amateurs when it comes to football management anyways!!! ?
Ramsey can not be the captain. I would prefer Koscielny or Granit Xhaka. We need someone who can lead. We have had so dosial sort of captains in recent years. Field is like a graveyard when we play. We need a strong character like a captian in the field. Ramsey doesn’t fit that person. Cech could have been but I dislike the idea of a goalkeeper being the caotain. Xhaxa seem to be the only person with such character. It doesn’t really matter that he just joined. A leader is always a leader.
Ramsey wearing the armband at that Boreham Wood friendly a couple of years ago just looked so perfect…
Wenger has never been good in picking captains. The only one he got right was Viera. He inherited Tony Adams, who was exceptional.
Cech, Santi or Koscielny. Coquelin for the future
Clearly Debuchy.
If not Corporal Jenks for his services to bantz.
Don’t think the injury will change much, Mertesacker will be club captain and Santi will wear the armband from the start of the season.
Wenger has pretty much followed this captian/vice-captain route since the whole Gallas fiasco. I don’t think Wenger wants another situation where key players who have worn the armband regularly on the pitch are pissed off when they are overlooked for some stroppy twat. Lucky we don’t have any twats in our squad this time round.
Captain Giroud!
captaining someone at arsenal seems to be the same as booking a permanent room in the hospital. so per captain with lolo as vice captain.
The problem with Cazorla being captain is when they go to do the coin flip at the start of the game they’ll need a stool so Cazorla can be high enough to see the top of the ref’s hand to see how the flip turned out.
I really liked guardiola’s way of thinking; let the players choose their captain, someone who can confront the manager if there’s unsettlement within the squad. Someoe they feel that represents them.
My personal preference would be cech. Seems a levelheaded, fair and no nonsense guy.
I hereby nominate Cash Reserves for captaincy. Biggest player we have.
A team should always lead with its Coq.