Captain 2012/13

So RVP will not renew. We don't know if he is leaving yet or not. But obviously he can't stay captain.

Considering our last 4 captains have left (or not renewed) within a year or 2 of receiving the post, we have to put good thought into who we choose next. The key thought is unexpected consequences. Will it:
- divide the squad?
- see the player get a big head and leave?
- put too much pressure on the player, reducing his playing form?

Another consideration is, considering how many captains we have had recently, almost 1 per 1.5 seasons, do we need to choose someone who will be long term captain? I don't think this is necessary. If we have a good captain, who is only a good captain for 1 season, then that is still a good thing. It hurts that extra bit more when the captain leaves, but not as much if it is on the club's terms. Only when it against the club's wishes.

Vermaelen is the obvious choice, as current Vice-Captain. He also recently signed a new long term contract. But I think it is not easy. He has not had his best season, and is no longer first choice at Centre Back. There will be many games, where if all 3 Centre Backs are available, he will be rotated. Also, I think he needs to regain his form and hit peak performance quietly, not with the added burden of captaincy. That said, he has good leadership skills. But I think it is a year early.

I don't think Koscielny or Sagna have the best leadership skills. They both lead by example, and possibly in a couple of year Kos could be a great leader, but not now. Similar story for Song, who is probably not dependable enough to be captain for my mind.

Rosicky is one of the 2 more experienced players in the team, and he has a long history with Arsenal, and has recently shown some loyalty by choosing to extend rather than big tempting offers from Russia. But I don't think he is a first choice player often enough, and doesn't have enough respect of his team mates.

Which leads me to my preferred choice (happy to be convinced otherwise). Arteta was exemplerary last season. Dependable, professional and consistent. When he didn't play, we really struggled and really missed him. He is only a short term player for Arsenal, not a long term proposition. I think he will be a certain starter this season, and probably wind back a bit the following season as Jack, Rambo, Le Coq and others come through. He is a great spokesperson for the club, a good role model. He has the ability to take on the burden, keep playing well, and allow other players to continue developing quiety compared to if they were captain. He's also very good looking, so I expect support from the gays on here. (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Pretty much agree with you on this.

As much as I like Vermaelen he is no longer a shoe in for the first team and so should not be given the captaincy.
I think we could have given Jack the captaincy if he had been fit this season but he'll have to wait for it now.

If the past few seasons are anything to go by Wenger will give the armband to Theo if he signs.

I for one am up for the captaincy to be given to Sagna. Leadership skill or not, if the captain plays his socks off, one would expect the rest of the team to do the same.

Sami Rockfeller wrote:Pretty much agree with you on this.

As much as I like Vermaelen he is no longer a shoe in for the first team and so should not be given the captaincy.
I think we could have given Jack the captaincy if he had been fit this season but he'll have to wait for it now.

If the past few seasons are anything to go by Wenger will give the armband to Theo if he signs.

And who would be your preferred, considering all the issues right now?

arteta has to be the obvious choice..surely?
he was one of our best players last season.one of the most experienced players in team.he walks into our starting xi at the moment.can see him at the club for atleast next 3 years.

when i started the thread, i didn't think people would agree, and certainly didn't think he'd be the 'obvious choice'. we'll see..

also, when arteta does leave (all players leave one day I hate to say), it won't be the same as cesc and nasri etc. with those players, we have invested time and probably league points developing them, only for them to leave before their peak. even if arteta left after 1 season as captain, his overall contribution would have been positive.

i believe arsenal will be the last top flight club arteta will play for.either he will retire or he will move to some second tier club after arsenal.

Arteta will probably go back to Everton when he's done at Arsenal.

I can't think of another clear choice than Arteta for captaincy. My initial thought was Vermaelen, but the fact that he's no longer a clear-cut starter takes away that option.

Arteta or verminator...its all we got...sad to say..

vyom.chaudhary wrote:i believe arsenal will be the last top flight club arteta will play for.either he will retire or he will move to some second tier club after arsenal.

I don't see what you can base that on.

It's pretty clear, based on what we've experienced the past few years, that anything can happen.

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:

vyom.chaudhary wrote:i believe arsenal will be the last top flight club arteta will play for.either he will retire or he will move to some second tier club after arsenal.

I don't see what you can base that on.

It's pretty clear, based on what we've experienced the past few years, that anything can happen.

He is already 30, with 3 years more on his contract.Even if he leaves by the time he is 33 certainly he wont be the same player anymore and good enough for any team challenging for trophies.
Either he will end up at everton or some other mid table club.Or he might continue to play in a bit part role till the end of his career at arsenal.like bergkamp did.

vyom.chaudhary wrote:

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:

vyom.chaudhary wrote:i believe arsenal will be the last top flight club arteta will play for.either he will retire or he will move to some second tier club after arsenal.

I don't see what you can base that on.

It's pretty clear, based on what we've experienced the past few years, that anything can happen.

He is already 30, with 3 years more on his contract.Even if he leaves by the time he is 33 certainly he wont be the same player anymore and good enough for any team challenging for trophies.
Either he will end up at everton or some other mid table club.Or he might continue to play in a bit part role till the end of his career at arsenal.like bergkamp did.

Oh. By second tier club, I thought you meant a club out of the Top 3 leagues.

Anyway, you never know. Henrik Larsson signed for Barca at 32 and United at 35. Paul Scholes just came out of retirement. Patrick Viera signed for Man City late on. Benayoun signed for us at 31, and Chelsea at 30.

Every summer we have this conversation and every summer we seem to struggle with a definitive answer.

Vermaelen's personality and vice-captaincy would make him the favourite and probably the fans' favourite but as it's been said, it's a concern that his form has dropped off since his first season. And he has been picking up a few more injuries which isn't helping.

I say give it to Gervinho.

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:

vyom.chaudhary wrote:

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:

vyom.chaudhary wrote:i believe arsenal will be the last top flight club arteta will play for.either he will retire or he will move to some second tier club after arsenal.

I don't see what you can base that on.

It's pretty clear, based on what we've experienced the past few years, that anything can happen.

He is already 30, with 3 years more on his contract.Even if he leaves by the time he is 33 certainly he wont be the same player anymore and good enough for any team challenging for trophies.
Either he will end up at everton or some other mid table club.Or he might continue to play in a bit part role till the end of his career at arsenal.like bergkamp did.

Oh. By second tier club, I thought you meant a club out of the Top 3 leagues.

Anyway, you never know. Henrik Larsson signed for Barca at 32 and United at 35. Paul Scholes just came out of retirement. Patrick Viera signed for Man City late on. Benayoun signed for us at 31, and Chelsea at 30.

I don't think age has much to do with it anymore...
Take into account the fact players are going well beyond 30...that can secure big money moves to other leagues and also fitness levels are far better than they were say 10 years ago..

I have always hated our no policy to handing out good contracts to the over 30's lost some quality players for it as where others teams have blatantly benefited from it....

I believe it's cost us big in the past....

We always end up losing our captain at the end of the season anyway - I say we should make Bendtner captain if we can't offload him this summer.

You know it's a tough question but I'm still going to go with Vermaelen. I think the only players we know right now who are surely first choice are Koscielny, Sagna, Wilshere, and probably Giroud. None of them for me should be made captain. If we get M'Vila, there will be question marks about our entire midfield. The talk of a GK means Chez is not guaranteed to start, plus he's nowhere near captain material. Vermaelen is likely to start but not guaranteed, and nobody knows what out front line will look like.

So with that in mind, I would go for Verm as captain, and Kos+Arteta as vices. That way even if the captain is not guaranteed to start, one of those three always will.

It seems our captaincy has become more of a curse than an honour in recent years, with players either disgracing themselves, leaving or both of those.

That said for me the most likely choices are Vermaelen and Arteta. I fully expect Vermaelen to get it and I have no doubt he will regain his 1st season form again not to mention he seems very dedicated to us and recently said he'll finish his career with us, but then again RVP has well and truely shown us footballers can never again be trusted like the old days with the money floating around like today. Arteta will probably be made vice captain, despite his age i think he'll be a good player for us for the rest of his contract, possibly longer. He's not exactly a pace player which is the 1st thing that goes with age, just look at how good xavi and scholes still are, both in their 30's. Arteta is the same kind of player as them anf will probably grow more as a player for us next season. Sagna is great but he's not exactly very vocal, lead by example captains dont always work out, especially in cases where the captain has a poor game. As another option I would definately say Wilshere, I think he should and probably will be our captain after this one we're about to choose, assuming he gets fit and back to form again.

So,
TV - Captain
Arteta/Sagna/Wilshere - Vice

Arteta. He's a model of consistency and you get the impression that he's in it for the long haul i.e. not going to move to some other European club as soon as he has a good season. My only concern is that he's not a dominant or vocal figure on the pitch; he just does his job and does it well.

Vermaelen would be an excellent choice but for the points Jonathan made.

Wesley Wang wrote:Arteta. He's a model of consistency and you get the impression that he's in it for the long haul i.e. not going to move to some other European club as soon as he has a good season. My only concern is that he's not a dominant or vocal figure on the pitch; he just does his job and does it well.

Vermaelen would be an excellent choice but for the points Jonathan made.

I agree with Wesley on this one. Arteta is the first name on the team-sheet for me. Vermaelen still has time on his side, love his attitude, but he does need to re-establish himself as 1st choice centre-back somewhat.

There is only one option, FRIMPONG!!!!!

Vermaelen for captain (and new contract) and Szczesny as vice-captain.

Szczesny may be young but he has just the right attitude to be (vice)captain. Cesc and rvp were given this accolade beacause they were important parts of the teams gameplay. They were never kind of players who could inspire their team just with their sheer presence and words. They never had leadership. Captain is not necessary someone who contributes most as a play leader.

ahrstic wrote:Vermaelen for captain (and new contract) and Szczesny as vice-captain.

Szczesny may be young but he has just the right attitude to be (vice)captain. Cesc and rvp were given this accolade beacause they were important parts of the teams gameplay. They were never kind of players who could inspire their team just with their sheer presence and words. They never had leadership. Captain is not necessary someone who contributes most as a play leader.

Vermaelen already put pen to paper on a new contract. I don't know if you are stupid or ill informed but pretty much every single one of you're posts have been either full of wrong information or a really stupid opinion that has no basis in fact.

kdunn wrote:Vermaelen already put pen to paper on a new contract. I don't know if you are stupid or ill informed but pretty much every single one of you're posts have been either full of wrong information or a really stupid opinion that has no basis in fact.

Stupid and ill informed? Is there really need for calling someone stupid here? Isnt this place free to share opinion? Accept it or not but don't insult mate! I may be stupid but damn if Im gonna let anyone call me ill informed!

Peace!

But you are ill informed. And this is a public forum opinions get debated and if your opinion is stupid then people are gonna tell you so

The atmosphere in this forum has almost always been civil, probably best kept that way.