With a number of newspapers reporting that Robin van Persie is set to keep his Arsenal captaincy for this afternoon’s pre-season friendly against FC Koln, I have decided to write a post in which I analyse whether or not this is the right decision.
As we all know, Thomas Vermaelen has been filling in as captain for all of Arsenal’s pre-season matches so far in the absence of van Persie. Our star striker did not travel on the Asia tour for a variety of reasons, but will now resume his captaincy for the last pre-season game.
I can only think of two reasons for RvP retaining his captaincy:
1) Wenger has decided to keep van Persie as captain in the hope of convincing him to stay and (maybe) sign a new contract. Demoting the Dutchman based on July’s statement would not be particularly helpful because it would only add to the bad feelings that he has towards the club.
2) Van Persie was always captain and nothing has changed, despite his statement last month. Vermaelen as captain was only a temporary solution because van Persie was not on tour and Wenger wishes to continue as normal. Vermaelen will only take over as captain if RvP leaves in the next few weeks.
The decision to keep Robin as captain could have huge implications for the coming season. If van Persie stays will he now presume that he gets to keep the captaincy? Does this match suggest that van Persie will indeed be the Arsenal captain next season or will Wenger look at the situation in a weeks time? Will Vermaelen be upset that he has been overlooked?
In my opinion, Thomas Vermaelen was the better candidate for the Arsenal captaincy in the first place. I like the idea of having a captain who plays in defence; Vermaelen is a much more vocal player because the defence requires a lot of organisation. Arsenal are strong going forward but somewhat lack defensive organisation (something that Steve Bould has been working on in the last few months). Maybe having one player (Vermaelen) who has a bit more defensive control will make a big difference. This is, of course, just my opinion, so feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section below.
Arteta please.
Wenger should never be paid anything ever again. It would be the most stupid decision he has ever made. van Persie staying as captain would just confirm how he doesn’t value the captaincy. If he really decides to keep a disloyal prick who’s badmouthed the club just to keep him about he has serious issues. We should just get rid of the cunt and even if he signs a new contract he shouldn’t get the captaincy. It would just be a complete outrage and unfortunately I think it’s going to happen. Wenger is a moron if van Persie stays as captain.
As far as I recall, the statement “badmouthed” merely the management; so if Wenger decides to give the armband back to RVP, it could mean he accepts the criticism, as well as the way in which it was put forward, but not that he accepts assaults on the club.
That said, I would genuinely prefer Vermaelen to wear the armband. He is vocal, and he was our vice-captain last season, so he’s logically next down the line. Arteta is a great idea, too, and he should be taken into account throughout the season. Then, there’s Szczesny, who, while still young, and not above making stupid errors, would at least benefit from being allowed to run up the pitch to have a talk with the ref. Other possible suspects include Diaby (if fit), Koscielny and Sagna – though, while each of them is good enough to be able to lead by example, neither possesses the command RVP, Verm or Arteta has.
I don’t think the captaincy is relevant on the pitch. To think that a strip of fabric will mean TV5 organises the defence better is nonsense. Players with passion and experience will do the job regardless.
It’s all very puzzling. The best candidate for captaincy in the squad
is Mikel Arteta. By a country mile.
Yes! Completely agree there mate, Your the first person I have seen to say that aswell as Ive been saying that for a while noe. Arteta already orchestrates from a central role, Hes fantastic for us. Its hard to put in to words what he does for us except to say he basically dots all the i’s and crosses the t’s, I think that will make sense to any other gooners that watch week in week out?
Either way, RVP, TV5, whatever, an armband wont make a difference to the defence. Lets see what we got today because Watching the shield match I dont think either man city or chelsea seem too much of a problem for us. COYG!
I just don’t see why people are so sure that Vermaelen’s such a good candidate. When he arrived, on the back of captaining Ajax, I was expecting to see more leadership from him. But I don’t think he organises his defence all that well, and I don’t even think he’s our best centre-back now. He’s responsible for a lot of goals against, often through getting pulled out of position far too easily. I’m not saying I don’t like him as a player, mind, just that his faults are the sort that make me question whether he should be captain when there’s such a stand-out alternative.
Arteta has bags of experience and what’s more it shows. He adapts to the pace of the game and is capable of imposing his own pace on it. That’s the kind of thing you want in a captain – awareness of what’s going on and of what needs to be done about it. He’s also said to have done things behind the scenes to reduce the cliqueyness in the squad, and is an automatic starter.
van persie is scum. scum shouldn’t wear the captain’s armband. he pretends to love arsenal and all that bullshit but it’s all a lie. he hates arsenal and shouldn’t wear the armband.60466