Possible Captain Replacements

At the current time of writing, it is still not certain that Cesc will leave. The situation is pretty much the same as it has been all summer, and we will accept a bid that we see as being acceptable.

Inevitably Cesc will accept the contract offer and he will move on, both parties may not be "happy" but the situation will be resolved. The only thing that's changed since the start of the summer is that we've dramatically lowered our asking price - by about a third in my opinion. But since this "issue" is far too complex to even think about properly, let alone blog about means that is the last I will say on the matter for now.

One thing is certain though, if Cesc does leave, we will need a new captain. Some people even think that if he doesn't leave he shouldn't be captain anymore, and throughout his reign as leader many have cast doubts over his quality in that position. Moving on though, here I am weighing up the possible candidates to follow the greats such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams and George Graham who have previously worn the Arsenal armband.

Jack Wilshere - The first name to come into my head is Jack Wilshere. Jack has been a revelation over the last 18 months, progressing from a Carling Cupper reserve player to Premier League first team at Bolton, then going on to start at Arsenal and England and putting in brilliant performances against the worlds' best. He doesn't seem phased by anything either, and has slotted into the squad like a man twice his age.


In the latter stages of last season, as first-teamers crumbled into their shells Jack stood tall and held his ground, running twice the distance of other players despite his clear signs of fatigue. In pre-season, after a much needed summer of rest, Jack has continued to shine in the absence of Cesc and Nasri and in most games looked like he was leading the team already.


Wilshere is the archetypal English player, and wears his heart on his sleeve, not afraid or intimidated by anyone on the pitch. His rise into the first team showed up other players lack of desire, which has been a key attribute missing over the last few years. He's surely a captain for the future, but this summer may come too early for him.

Thomas Vermaelen - Vermaelen was sorely missed last year, the lack of defensively stability, experience and overall leadership and organisation in defence contributed significantly to our unsuccessful title challenge.


Thomas has excelled since he joined Arsenal and when fit is unquestionably one of the best defenders in the division. Despite not being physically imposing, he is more than capable of holding his own against any defender or striker. Defenders are known as great captains, being in the heart of the action and able to see the whole pitch in-front of them.


Having been Captain before at Ajax and for the Belgium national team, Thomas knows exactly what is needed to lead and has exceptional ability in organising the defence and leading by example. Also, when previously mooted over possible captaincy, Vermaelen responded saying:

"It gives me a good feeling, being captain, If the coach turns round and says you’re the captain it’s a big honour for me."

Vermaelen would be a popular choice in the squad and among supporters, and I think is best suited to the job. Even if he doesn't get the armband, he will be leading the team in some way or other.

Robin Van Persie - If Fabregas does go, Robin will be our best player and arguably our only world class player too. He is into his prime now too, and his statistics for last season, or more accurately the half of the season he played, are second to none.


Van Persie is the current Vice-Captain and has done OK so far when called upon to wear the armband. He hasn't been spectacularly vocal, but like Cesc does he leads by example and is amply respected by other members of the squad. If he does not get the armband, he may well be offended and Arsene will be unwise to upset such a key player, especially with his contract issue (Robin will be in the same situation as Nasri is now next summer)


He is not a classic captain figure, but is capable of growing into the role - just as he has admirably grown in the centre forward role over the last few years. A question mark will remain over how many games he'll be able to feature in, but hopefully he can put that all behind him.

Aaron Ramsey - Not many players boast the CV of Aaron Ramsey, even though he's had to suffer over a year of injury after been assaulted by a stupid thug. F.A cup finalist at 18, transfer to one of Europe's biggest teams that same year and captain of his country at 21.


Ramsey showed his fighting spirit in coming back so quickly after that "challenge" and was brilliant as we best United in May. He oozes class with every touch and may well be the play Wenger turns to in a bid to replace Cesc, which is a big sign of trust.


He may only be an outsider, but there have been more surprising things known to happen in football before.




Other candidates could be a new Centre-back signing (if we ever sign one) as all Samba, Cahill & Jagielka have brilliant leadership skills. Thomas Rosicky is probably our most experienced play too, but will be unlikely to be made captain as he won't be in the first team. 


An incredibly unlikely move would be to install Sagna as Cesc's replacement. The best right back in the Premier League is the pinnacle of consistency and will always be in the first team. However the armband may be a distraction from his game, and he has no previous captain experience.


Who would you have as Arsenal captain? Have I missed any other possible candidates? Let me know what you think.

Arsenal need more reinforcements.

Whilst the prospective signing of Juan Mata has lightened the fans' mood over transfers, but even if the classy young Spaniard does sign, it does not take away form the fact that we have other main priorities.


Centreback is the most important issue, with one, or even two needed. Vermaelen is our best option but can't be trusted to play every game after he was out all last year. Djourou and Koscielny both had very impressive matches last year, but too often suffer lapses in concentration and make mistakes. Over time they can eradicate these from their game and be excellent defenders, but we don't want them learning week in week out in the first team. Other than those names, Bartley is very young, too young perhaps and the less said about Squillaci the better.


Another weak link in our defence is, and has been over a number of year, the Left Back place. Clichy was another very inconsistent player and continued to make costly mistakes, not progressing into the world beater he could have.


Gibbs and Traore are worse options than Clichy though. Gibbs looks bright but is predominantly a left midfielder and is still learning the position. What doesn't help the young Englishman is the fact that he suffers constant injuries and cannot be relied upon to be first choice at the moment. Traore is even less reliable too. He may have returned a better player since his loan spell at Juventus - as youth expert Jamie Sanderson has stated - but he hasn't been overly impressive in pre-season.


An option for this position is Jose Enrique, who seems desperate to leave Newcastle and the club desperate to sell. With only one year left on his contract, we could easily pick him up for less than 5 million pounds. A bargain option. Enrique is solid defensively, and is an excellent crosser of the ball which is something we lack throughout the squad.


The position that goes unmentioned most regularly though is striker. With Bendtner's exit almost a certainty, the only strikers we have at the club are Van Persie, Chamakh and Vela - who can't play the lone striker role.  Van Persie is an excellent option to have upfront and would get into any team in the world with his technique, but like so many Arsenal players he cannot be relied upon to play a whole season due to his injury history.


At some point Van Persie will get injured and we'll have to rely solely on Chamakh and Vela. Since goals win you trophies, a strike force containing those two does not fill me with great expectations. Look at Tottenham, a main reason they missed out on the top 4 last year is because they lack a top European Striker in their ranks. We would enjoy a similar problem is we are left with only Chamakh and Vela.


Chamakh did have a good start to last season, he scored goals and won a lot of penalties at important moments. A lot of his goals may have been easy finished into an empty net, but as long as he's scoring goals we can't criticize him.


After November though, the lanky Moroccan enjoyed a barren spell in front of goal for months. He lacked any presence in front of goal and you wouldn't have put money on his scoring again after the chances he missed. Even in pre-season he didn't look like scoring against very weak Asian opposition.


After waiting a year to get Chamakh, and seeing him in action I don't want him being our second choice striker next year. Our rivals all have amazing strength in depth up front. United have Rooney, Hernandez, Berbatov, as well as Owen, and Wellbeck who have all scored multiple goals in the Premiership.


Chelsea have Torres, Drogba, Anelka and Sturridge and Man City have probablythe most impressive list of all. Tevez, Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko, Adebayor, Santa Cruz and more. Even Liverpool have Suarez, Carroll and Kuyt and N'gog. Clearly we have to shape up if we are to even think about winning the league.


Even looking at the first team squad number, no-one is filling the number 9 shirt, and that just shows that we lack a true number 9 centre forward. Someone who'll score us goals when it truly matters, like the 90th minute at the Nou Camp. Links with Joel Campbell are decent, the Costa Rican looks very raw but could have all the skills needed to be a quality striker. But we cannot rely on someone adapting form South America at only 19 years old to be our 3rd or 4th choice. We need someone from the Premiership who is capable of scoring goals.


In the next few days I will put out an article on who could be our striker targets. Thanks, and Come on Arsenal in the Emirates Cup today.

World Class Van Persie

The recent season has been analysed and scrutinised by many fans, bloggers, journalists and even by the players and manager. It had it's ups and also it's downs and, after a more than disappointing ending, most of us are pleased to see the back of it. 
However, over the next few weeks I aim to conduct some blogs that give a more positive message from Arsenal's 2010-2011 season, and look at some of the good things that happened over the course of the year. In the last post of this series, I look at the impact Van Persie has had on our season.


Where would we have been last year without this man?

Van Persie was simply exceptional in the second half of the season, leading the team from the front scoring goal and after goal and being the main creative talent in a team which included Fabregas, Nasri and Wilshere.


The 27 year old managed 22 goals in 33 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions as well as 7 assists. His form in the second half of the season - after yet another injury ravaged start to the year - was breathtaking, and he broke many records along the way, as well as scoring his first career hat-trick against Wigan. His records included most consecutive away goals, as well as equaling the 18 goal record since the turn of the year.

Next year he can definitely be regarded as one of our best players, even if Cesc, Samir etc. don't leave. His touch is audacious and, even though he doesn't play in his favored position he scores goals and creates them too. If Cesc does leave this summer we could even revert to 442 with Van Persie behind the main striker, but hopefully we won't be in that situation.


His best moment was probably the fantastic goal against Barcelona at the Emirates. Everything about the goal was sublime. The inch perfect ball by Clichy before the Dutchman finished off the move with an outrageous shot, which buried itself in the bottom corner of the Barcelona net. It was a Bergkamp-esque goal or sublime quality, and one which personally i'll never forget.

His worst moment also probably came against Barcelona, when after getting a stupid booking, he was sent off in what is a massive injustice and probably led to us getting knocked out of the champions league. It was an awful decision by the ref, but  if he hadn't received the first booking then he wouldn't have been in the situation to be sent off.


Robin does seem happy at Arsenal right now, but if we lose our best players he may not be for much longer. Hopefully he'll be scoring (and not be getting injured) a lot next season. And he really has to improve on his set-pieces.