Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick believes it will now be a big challenge for Mikel Arteta to find an ideal replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Arsenal captain.
The Gunners officially announced earlier today that Aubameyang would no longer be the skipper of the first-team, and Chadwick has suggested it could be good for the Gabon international to play without the pressure of the captaincy.
When he first joined Arsenal, Aubameyang looked a world class threat up front, but there’s no doubt his form has gone downhill in the last year or so.
Although Chadwick is unsure who Arteta will be able to turn to to become the new captain, he does think this might end up being a good move in terms of improving Aubameyang’s overall form.
“Obviously we don’t know the ins and outs of what’s gone on. He arrived late back from something to do with his family, but it’s maybe not the first time something like this has happened. It’s maybe not hugely surprising,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside.
“When he first came in he was a breath of fresh air and carried on from his incredible success at Borussia Dortmund. Since getting the captain’s armband his performances have dipped a little bit. Maybe without that pressure of the captaincy he can get back to doing what he does best, which is scoring plenty of goals for Arsenal. At his best he was without a doubt one of the best strikers in the Premier League.
“It’s a tough one in that Arsenal squad, because there’s a lot of young players coming through, a lot of inexperience. There don’t seem to be natural leaders.
“Granit Xhaka maybe looked like more of a leader but with his disciplinary record, a lot of yellow and red cards, it’s not ideal. It’s hard to pin point who the next captain could be.
“Maybe Ben White, another young player coming through, but it’s a lot of added pressure. Aubameyang maybe wasn’t a vocal leader but was chosen for the role to lead by example and what he does with his feet. He’s a hugely gifted player, but again that doesn’t seem to have worked out.
“You look at previous Arsenal captains from years gone by – Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira, those real leaders of men – there’s no one like that in the Arsenal squad at the moment. It’s hard to pin point who Arteta could make the next captain with who’s in the squad at this time.”
This won’t make for easy reading for Arsenal fans, though it seems a fair few of their supporters on Twitter think Kieran Tierney is the ideal candidate to get the captain’s armband now.
For now it is Laca, perfectly fine & Logic, he is second Captain after Auba.
Let’s keep it simple and ease drama.