We are all aware that Arsenal’s current captain is Thomas Vermaelen and although at the beginning of last season you would have thought he could be the next Tony Adams; dominating, controlling and being both physically and mentally strong in making his presence known, it seemed as if the captaincy was just right for him, but a year later and it’s surprising to see how it seems that was wrong.

Arsenal have struggled with their captain’s in recent years, arguably ever since the big Frenchman Patrick Vieira left the Arsenal set up. We then went through a period of giving player’s the armband just to keep them at the club, most notably in Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie, all whom have still left the club despite having the biggest player role at the club. We have also had the recent failure of captain in William Gallas and it was this decision which was decisive in Kolo Toure’s departure to Manchester City (although that now looks like a good piece of business for £16 million!).

And so as a result Arsenal have had to change captain’s like Chelsea change managers in recent years. We have seen Fabregas and Van Persie leave the fold and it was ultimately Van Persie’s departure which left Arsenal with the decision to appoint Vermaelen, but sadly it didn’t work out for the Belgian. In my opinion the captaincy ruined his professional game. It seems as if the big role at the club was too much for Vermaelen to handle and it distracted him from the pitch and his playing ability, and this was very clear towards the mid-season and ultimately resulted in Arsenal’s captain spending the majority of the second half of the season on the bench.

This has brought up questions about whether we should replace Vermaelen as captain for the forthcoming season. It will mean Arsenal would have had a different captain for the last four seasons but I think in order to get Vermaelen back to the player he used to be, this move is necessary. It will possibly dent his confidence, but I’m sure Wenger can retain Vermaelen’s state of mind by making sure he knows that the move is being done in order to relight his professional playing career rather than being focused off the pitch.

Arteta seems to be the most favourable candidate to replace him after Sagna’s uncertainty to remain at the club. Many have also called for Jack Wilshere however I feel that he is too young and so perhaps he could take the armband in the near future but not just yet and lastly there have been the old calls for our two central rocks in Mertesacker and Koscielny. What do you think should be done, and what do you think Wenger will actually do?

3 thoughts on “Arsenal and the Captaincy Conundrum

  1. 1 arteta and wilshere has the quality

    lets wenger decide for this

    2 soon good news will be coming because the staff is coming and we r near july 🙂

  2. Obviously we can’t have a captain who spends most of the time on the bench. I think Vermaelen is a real Arsenal man, and he can handle having the captaincy taken away from him.
    For me Arteta is the 1st choice, towards the end of the season he was always discussing with Wenger on the sidelines. But there are many other choices, Mertesacker, Kos, Cazorla. Wilshere is too young, emotional and inconsistent, maybe in 4 or 5 years.

  3. Excellent out of season topic. Thank you!
    I personally would like to see Wilshere get the armband, as he surely bleeds Arsenal, and seems to have the desire.
    You may be right in that he doesn’t yet have the experience and it would be hard to judge how it may affect his development.
    To be fair, the only people who know how he affects the dressing room are the people in it.
    Personalities make captains, as opposed to persona’s.

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