Gibbs as captain just shows that Arsenal are lacking in leaders

Arsenal are still lacking leaders!

Arsenal endured a terrible defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in a result that will surely see us crash out of the champions league at the round of sixteen stage once again. The first half gave Arsenal fans a sense we were up to the fight, but the Gunners faltered in the second half and rolled over to the mighty German giants.

One of the issues that was clear during the game is that this team is still lacking that much needed communication and vocal leadership. The players are not on the same wave length and need someone to get them all ticking at the same time.

The issue used to be not having enough experienced players on the pitch to fight the mental challenge that comes from playing against big oppositions. However that is no longer the case, with this Arsenal side having a very good blend of youth and experience. The issue is that very few players speak out, take leadership over others and when the going gets tough, a lot of them just seem to give up. Arsene Wenger doesn’t help the situation, as he too is a very quiet person on the touch line in comparison to what you’d expect. Wenger doesn’t shout instructions, nor does he remind the players throughout the match of their duties. You see other top European and even mid-table Premier League managers being more vocal in desire of a win than Wenger, so why isn’t a commanding approach in the Frenchman’s skill set.

Communication and leadership is ever so important on the pitch and in order for it to be effective, you need a strong captain to lead the team. However at Arsenal, we don’t really have that. Our current club captain is officially Per Mertesacker, but Laurent Koscielny has been filling in for Mertesacker in the German’s absence. Both of them are known to be strong leaders, Mertesacker especially and it’s understood Per does a lot of work off the pitch as a leader for the team. However last night after Koscielny went off, we endured Kieran Gibbs as the captain for the evening and although this is in no disrespect to Gibbs, you can’t really see the left back piping up to get the team in order when you’re 2-1 down to Bayern Munich. Arsenal needed someone who would be vocal, passionate and commanding, rather than Gibbs, who arguably received the armband because he was the longest serving player for Arsenal at that point in the match.

I’m sure there are many fans that could go on ranting and raving about this latest performance for days, but the fact is that this tie is pretty much done and dusted and Arsenal now need to look for the next game ahead. Saying this however, come the end of the season, when there are no more matches on the cards, then there will be plenty to think about and hopefully plenty to change.

By AH

9 Comments

  1. its just comical to have someone like gibbs stand up as your captain.
    Second choice left back for arsenal. third choice for england.Other than that he was getting roasted all night by alaba and robben.A person like xhaxa would have been more understandable

  2. Most of the Arsenal players are complete p*ssies on the pitch. Probably really nice guys to hang out with but when playing, they are sissies.

    Cushioned and soft, Arsenal Ladies are tougher than 95% of the first teamers.

    1. The best Wenger could come up with was to say:
      ‘I will manage next year at Arsenal or elsewhere’.

      My interpretation of that statement is…’Do whatever you want to. I’ll still be managing at Arsenal next year. Worst case scenario, I’ll manage another top team. Other teams need my services also. You can all go to hell. I’m the manager, you’re not’.

  3. Sometimes i wonder….. What is so hard & bad in fishing out the feeble,brittle players and replacing em with hardworking players who would rather work their socks off for the team????
    .
    A voice in the dark echoing
    “Arsene himself is weak & naive”

  4. OT: Latest news coming out of football crazy country Chile. Fans demanding from their idol ALEXIS to immediately leave the loser team called Arsenal. There have been mass demonstrations throughout Chile. Alexis should join a team with Ambition. I do not blame them at all!!

  5. So not only do we have a team that bottles it but a bunch of so called supporters even bigger bottlers. You should all be ashamed. Call yours selves Gooners! And pubgooner wtf!

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