Is Ramsey the best candidate to be next Arsenal captain?

One of the first decisions that Unai Emery will have to make once Arsenal have concluded their transfer business is to decide who will be the next captain. The armband has been a bit of a poisoned chalice under Wenger as once promoted the captains usually hardly ever get seen on the pitch!

Per Mertesacker was the latest one and he started a total of 7 League games in the last two years, so ‘quiet man’ Laurent Koscielny was his deputy on the pitch. Now the veteran Frenchman is regularly plagued by injury and he is not expected to be available to play until Christmas, so surely he can’t be considered?

The ex-Gunners striker Kevin Campbell thinks that Emery will have a problem finding a leader amongst the current crop of players. “I think you look at leadership in two different ways. Everyone talks about the leaders like Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira, but those players are not easily available,” Campbell told ESPN FC.

“I think the second way you can get leadership is through organisation. When different parts of the team are functioning properly, players within that system will be the leader. And I believe that’s the way Unai Emery is going to do it.

“I think they’ll be well drilled, there’ll be certain triggers, and in order to have a trigger you’re going to have to be able to communicate.

“And that’s where certain players are going to have to take that leadership role on. The Tony Adams days, the Patrick Vieira, etc., Arsenal won’t have that type of player. But I think it will be a more organised structure.”

“There were certain things that never got addressed,” Campbell continued. “We always talk about how the spine of the team got weaker.

“But really, the issue was that Arsenal without the ball just didn’t have that structure, especially away from home because that’s when you rely on your actual system, your structure, and the players being able to implement what the manager wants.

“We were just so open at times it was scary. I’m sure Unai Emery will definitely make that side of the team a lot better.”

Nowadays we have no obvious leader like Tony Adams, and Campbell thinks they are not so easy to find at Arsenal presently. “You’ve got to look at the time and the players who were there [in Adams’ time]. The leader had to be strong and had to be someone who was fierce and fearless.

“Because as a team we were fierce and fearless. So your leader couldn’t be soft. Your leader had to be tough and a permanent member of that squad.

“But for the last four, five years, Arsenal went soft, and it’s showed itself in the league standings.

“Aaron Ramsey ticks quite a lot of boxes [as captain]. He’s one of the longest-serving players in the first team. If there’s a structure, Aaron Ramsey could be that guy.

“But I wouldn’t put it past Unai Emery going out and finding a player that fits his criteria, who can come in and lead the football club.”

So that was a very reasonable assessment of our need for a leader, but if Emery doesn’t try and bring a natural leader from outside the club, do you think Ramsey should be the prime candidate?

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55 Comments

  1. ZZ has just resigned from Madrid the man I wanted as our next manager….oh dear. I’d do a Bruce Richo I would.

  2. Wenger to Madrid doing the rounds!! Back to topic we do not have any leaders not since Adams or Vieira must be the quietest team in the premier league we someone like them 2 to start dishing out orders and leading by example unfortunately will never happen we are in for many many years of doom and gloom with no champions league football and a million miles away from challenging for prem!!

      1. Sue I am just telling the truth if you think we are going to challenge for premier league and quality for champions league with these players then sorry but you and the others that disagree are completely deluded!!

        1. I was beginning to wonder if you were a gooner!
          No I’m not expecting miracles, but I believe we have made a start by appointing Emery. He has a hell of a job on his hands though, time will tell & we shall see how well he does!
          I am looking forward to next season though (just hope we buy a few players, in the next few weeks, that we desperately need)

          1. Yeh a 34 and 30 year old defenders wow that’s going to scare the living day lights out of city Liverpool man u spuds and Chelsea not we will be called arsenal pensioners!!

            1. Well that’s not exactly what I had in mind!! Most of the team are late 20’s +….and I thought we were going to be called Borussia Arsenal ?

    1. Dan, cos There is no Vieira or Adams it does mean it’s all doom and glloom, A leader sometimes lead by example not by screaming at the top of their voice

    2. Dan, Deeper analysis than you bring would surely show you that Adams, Viera and McLintock are from way back types, and are virtually non existent anywhere these days. Society is softer all over the plentifullly fed world. Snowflakes are everywhere and football is no exception. I regret this but look anywhere and you find very few Adams types anywhere, not just only at Arsenal. Mangers like Clough and the early Fergie could never succeed today as players have too much money and too much ego. VIRTUALLY ALL of them. But we DO need far more determination and no pampering and lame excuses for not fully trying. THAT CAN AND MUST BE ACHIEVED BY EMERY. PROPER ORGANISATION, which was lacking for a decade past would make a massive improvement and personally I can see that happening from now on.

  3. Zidane just stepped down after winning his third consecutive champions league because according to him, Real Madrid needed change. Meanwhile Wenger had to be forced out after twenty two years of no European trophy. My God, how selfish can one get.

    1. Zizu is a smart man. He recognized it is best to leave when the ovation is at its loudest and he knows that his achievements are not due only to the quality of his coaching but the caliber of the players at his disposal and the wealth of the real Madrid. He doesn’t want to be a Jose who was kicked out everywhere he managed bar Porto and Inter but Pep who stepped out after achieving great things with Barcelona and B Munich.

      1. Exactly! He might been sacked very soon so he left at the right time with his honour intact. If only Wenger could have done that ten years ago.

  4. I really don’t believe he willingly stepped down. Besides Real Madrid are not always contented with any manager.

    After days Arsenal still has not signing of note. mislintat or diamond eyes like he’s called seems lost. Let the world cup start please ?

    1. According to real Madrid president, the decision was completely unexpected. Make of it what you will.

      1. Ambramovich having problems getting bk to Uk. Had to hold himself a temp jewish passport in order to get into Uk because of sanctions on Russia. hmmmmm!

  5. Arsene Wenger to Madrid coming soon.

    He would get the support he deserves while Emery would pick off basement bargains from Dortmund and Juventus.

    Jon Fox’s Blood pressure would soon soar.

    1. On the contrary. Nothing would delight me more than for Wenger to go to RM and regress them too. I have zero love and respect for this rapacious club who treat everybody , save their super stars, with disrespect. Even the spoilt fans with their white hankies are a disgrace. The maniac Presidents they have make even Abramovitch look humble , by comparison. The fact that Zidane feels he should resign , having just won 3 consecutive CL’s, amply demonstrates my argument.

      1. Where the likes of Paris St Germain are backed by the Qatar government and Manchester City are backed by the United Arab Emirates government, If you think that’s bad enough, Real Madrid have been secretly backed by the Spanish government for the last 60 years..

        1. Did you the know that the great Argentinian Alfredo De Stefano once signed for Barcelona but was then ordered by the dictator General Franco to change to Real Madrid.

  6. why does it seem that nothing has changed with our club still fooling us with young great players
    surely they mean cheap.
    same old arsenal

  7. I’ll pick Wilshere. Arsenal through and true. Fighter and example for the rest for the shirt.

    1. Tempted to agree-

      But big chance he won’t even be here. Or be 1st team player

  8. Back on topic regarding Aaron Ramsey.Lets face it we don’t really have anyone else do we?No other player is a stand out Captain and I can’t imagine it would go to a new signing so if it’s not Ramsey who else is it?
    We used to have a TEAM FULL OF LEADERS.Remember those days?

      1. That’s the Problem Jon-if some of the younger fans could have appreciated the Calibre of the MAN as much as the player that played up to and in the Invincibles of 2003-04 they would fully understand of why old codgers like US continually comment on the mental strength and leadership qualities All those players had.My all time favourite Dennis Bergkamp I don’t believe was ever captain of the Team.But every other player looked up to him and respected him regardless.And Dennis was NEVER afraid to leave his foot or elbow in if he needed to.Proper MEN Proper PLAYERS

        1. Oi – not so much of the ‘old codgers’. I reckon I’m in the same age bracket as you two.

  9. I BELIEVE WENGER MAY SUCCEED AT MADRID, THATS ANEW CHALLENGE FOR HIM HE WILL BE BACKED BUT FOR US WE JUST NEEDED CHANGE

  10. Stephan Lichtsteiner is the captain of the Swiss National Team. He is an experienced title winner with Juventus. If he performs better than Bellerin he is a natural option as captain.

  11. In football, as in many other walks of life, leadership is not something, you are given. You either have it in you, or you don’t. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have true leaders at the moment, so it really doesn’t matter much, who the captains armband is given to with the current squad.
    But hopefully Emery will sort it out with one or two new players, who also can lead.

  12. ZZ = one of the greatest footballers ever and world cup/European champ winner and CL both as player and manager AND only manager to win 3 CL in a row (and only 1 of 3 managers to win 3 CL)

    Not a bad career eh

    1. Also 2 serie A, 1 La Liga and other trophies and individual awards.

      More importantly he was so awesome to watch when he was a player. He made football look really cool with all his flashy moves.

      Unfortunately there was that World Cup incident when Metarrazi viciously hit Zidane’s head with his chest and the referee mistakenly thought Zidane headbutted him

      1. All true about ZZ . And yet, he still felt thr need to leave RM.Which speaks volumes about how this rapacious club eats up footballers and managers and players and spits them out with unseemly haste. The club has zero class, even though it regularly wins trophies. You CAN have both. They are NOT opposites.

  13. I think the captain of any team as to be first respected by rest of players not sure if Ramsey could ask Ozil,Auba or laca to up there game Sanchez already showed he was a nobody in our dressing room

  14. no decent candidates besides him. Monreal? Nobody can really complain if he gets it honestly.

  15. Monreal! Yea that’s our captain! He is not lightweight and I think can lash out at anyone in the team to up their game.

  16. Yes why not. It seems he may thrive with responsibility we may actually then see the Wales team Ramsey more often.
    Got no problem with Monreal either as he leads on the pitch and can see him motivativating but also dishing it out! The Spanish connection may help with emery as well.
    I think this is why Perez may be an asset to us, 1 I liked him and thought he brought some good qualities to our play, (especially is someone supports him mentally and coaches him closely).2 he speaks the native language of emery.
    How ever quickly emery learns English it’s going to take a long time before its as good as speaking directly to another Spaniard.

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