Who should be the Arsenal captain?

By: Lachlan | August 11th, 2012

I think that we can all agree, that regardless of whether we keep Van Persie or not, he probably won’t be captain this season.

This leads us to the question, who should be our captain this season?

In an earlier blog, I expressed my concerns about Thomas Vermaelen receiving the armband. I honestly don’t think he will be as clearly first choice as many believe, and I think that Mertesacker will likely be pushing very hard for that starting berth. If Vermaelen has the armband, then obviously it will be a lot harder for Mertesacker to work his way into the team. I get the impression that not many of you like Mertesacker that much, and I honestly can’t understand why.

At the time though, I had trouble deciding who should be captain if Vermaelen isn’t. I have to say, he does seem to be the natural choice, a bit of a leader. However, I have had some time to think about it, and I honestly think that Arteta could fill the role. He has been living in England for a long time, and is a very experienced Premier League player. He has to be the most consistent player in the team, and he could also be a good leader. I have decided that he gets my vote.

I’ve organised a poll, so we will see what everyone else thinks.

Who should be captain this season?

Until next time.

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Category: Arsenal News

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bobjcanada

i guess i'm in agreement with most; either Arteta or the Verm. I was leaning towards Verm, but after some more thought, went for Arteta.

5 days to the start of the season!!!!!!!

We can read and talk about something other than transfer rumours!!!!

Hooray!!!!
Felegy

"EPL season kicks off the weekend of 8/18 you say?" "Well lets make sure that we schedule a round of meaningless international friendlies three days prior". Unreal, we have over a dozen players heading out on international duty this week! Where is Martin, he usually handled the ranting regarding these meaningless friendlies...
Patoux21

There was no Emirates cup this season? It would have been a very good chance to win a trophy lol just kidding ... btw who was the captain during pre-season games?
Gigi_man

Has AW always had this glasses we see him with in the official site?
Or is: new haricut, new intellectual look?
I for one, like it.
Darry75

I’ve said this on some other sites: the dean of American
sports talk radio has often said about athletes in many professional
sports, “Whenever they say “It’s not about the money!”, it’s about the
money.”
Evidence: 1.)RVP made his statement after Arsenal acquired Podolski,
while the club was showing interest in acquiring other players; 2.) RVP
(or his agent) said he wasn’t interested in going to ManU unless he was
paid as much as Rooney and ManU has only become a factor since saying
they would pay him that much.
Promises were made to RVP and/or his agent, probably by Man City,
that he would receive a much higher salary than Arsenal could afford and
that they would do whatever was necessary to get him. But Mancini
hasn’t gotten the money to do that from his board–notice how he has been
sulking about that–so that deal fell through. Juve simply doesn’t have
the cash to pay Arsenal 20 million and give RVP what he wants, so they
have dropped out. Leaving ManU and “Rudoph (aka Alex) the Red-Nosed
Scottish Reindeer” as the only one left with the means to satisfy
Arsenal and RVP–especially since their big bid for Lucas Moura fell
through.
This leaves RVP in a box. Unless “Rudolph (aka Alex) the Red-Nosed
Scottish Reindeer” swoops down from the North with sufficient cash in
his sleigh to satisfy Arsenal now, RVP will have to see out his contract
this year. In that event, RVP can’t sulk and will have to play
well–because, unlike Cesc or Nasri, sulking or poor play won’t sit well
with the owners of teams he may hope to sign with: he’s going to be 30
when he hits the market and won’t have much upside or be forgiven for
want to go back home. And, even if he stays healthy all season, with
Podolski and Giroud joining Arsenal, RVP won’t be getting as much
playing time as last season and could even be passed over if he doesn’t
play well. All of which means that RVP is very likely to find it quite
hard to get offered the same kind of money after playing out his
contract with Arsenal as he was promised or might be able to make at
ManU if he gets through a transfer now.
Would holding onto RVP cost Arsenal money if he were to leave on a
Bosman after this season? Yes. But, it could cost RVP even more
proportionately. With Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud and RVP, Arsenal would
have a pretty good chance at making the Champions League again and might
even challenge for silverware. Is that worth losing the 15 million that
ManU have been offering (or perhaps even 20 million)? How much less
would RVP get on the open market if he were injured again this season?
Or, if he were to score only 28 goals in a more balanced and diverse
Arsenal attack? If ManU doesn’t come up with as much as Arsenal wants
for RVP and he has to start the season with Arsenal, it might be very
much in RVP’s interest to reconsider the contract extension that Arsenal
has tabled–it might be better than any offer that he may get after this
season (especially if these other clubs move on and bring in other
players and RVP stats aren’t as good as they were last season).
If it’s really about winning trophies, RVP should have been willing
to take less than “Rooney money” to leave, so that Juve or ManU could
pay what Arsenal wants. But RVP didn’t do that. And, now, ManU is going
to have to pay whatever Arsenal wants if they want RVP this season. But
they and other clubs may not be willing to pay RVP what he wants if he
leaves on a Bosman after this season. So, at this point, Arsenal is the
one holding the trump cards. And RVP is right to keep quiet for now
because he just may find that he may lose a lot if Arsenal isn’t
inclined to sell him this season.