It is very strange to think that Mikel Arteta is the current Arsenal captain, as he has hardly played for us in the last year (and when he has played…..) but the vice-captain Per Mertesacker has been standing in in his absence. Now next season Arteta is unlikely to be in the team because if Arsene Wenger gives him yet another one-year extension he will be pilloried by the fans.
Normally one would expect the vice-captain to automatically be given the armband when the captain leaves, but there is a report this morning suggesting that Wenger has all but decided to give it to Petr Cech instead. To be honest I think most Arsenal fans would prefer the BFG to be relegated to the bench right now, and Gabriel Paulista made the automatic starter alongside Laurent Koscielny. But naturally once it looked like that had happened and the Brazilian was set for a run in the starting line-up, Gabriel got injured!
But we are talking about next season’s captain, and Gabriel may have learned English fully and Wenger will be picking him ahead of the German. In that case who could you see Wenger picking as the permanent leader on the pitch?
Laurent Koscielny was given the honour last week alongside Gabriel, but the Frenchman has already confessed he is not such a verbose leader on the pitch, whereas Cech has no qualms about shouting at his back four, and has a very good way of promoting confidence on and off the pitch.
Personally I think Cech has no contest for the role right now, but what do the rest of think?