It is time to hand over the captaincy to the Verm?
When Laurent Koscielny backheeled Martin Fulop's "gift" in May, Arsenal had achieved a great feat finishing in third place despite the horrendous start to the campaign. Last season offered the Gunners the chance to see the current loopholes in the squad and many had hoped for a summer were all wrongs would be made right by the Arsenal hierarchy.
It started well with Arsenal sending its fair share of ambassadors to the European Championships and they all played in the best of their abilities, even though some fared better than others. This was followed up by the arrival of another centre forward that was odds on to reduce the heavy burden of goal scoring from Robin van Persie and it was a highly welcomed move by the Arsenal faithful.
However, van Persie revealed to the world that he and Arsenal were not in the same wavelength in terms of ambition, and it rightfully caused an uproar that has seen articles like this see the light of day. His statement was clearly an attempt to seek a move out of the Emirates but the meager bids made from his suitors have shown how much he has devalued himself.
After feeding us with bullocks on how he's not motivated by the greens, his agent, Kees Vos, had an engagement with Juventus and revealed that the Arsenal skipper
wants £195,000 per week in wages. Evaluating his options on a potential move away from the Emirates, a move to Juventus will be in the clubs best interests as he'll follow the trend of captains that sought greener pastures elsewhere but they had the decency to move away from the Premier League.
Patrick Vieira had achieved so much at the club, but he wanted to have a taste of the only trophy that had eluded him in his career, the UEFA Champions League. On the international scene, he had bagged a World Cup and a Euro for France. He was also synonymous with trophies while donning the Red and White of Arsenal. Monsieur Vieira was sold to Juventus in 2006 and I can't deny that it gave me great delight watching Cesc Fabregas boss the midfield in the quarterfinal fixture against Juventus in the Road to Paris '06.
Despite working in the backroom staff of Manchester City, Vieira is still held in high regard by the Emirates faithful.
Thierry Henry was a legend in every sense of the word at Arsenal but his exit in 2007 caused despair and agony as it was fabled that the club was going downhill from there but Arsene Wenger's army shocked the Premier League world to finish the campaign with 83 points, which was unfortunately not enough to win the league.
After his successful stint at Barcelona, Henry went to earn some pension in the United States but he answered Arsene Wenger's distress call in February to grace the Emirates one more time were he solidified his legendary status at the club.
legends
Cesc Fabregas didn't achieve much at Arsenal but he was a dedicated professional that was loyal to Arsene Wenger and the club. In his best ever season at Arsenal were he scored 19 goals and supplied 19 assists, Fabregas was courted aggressively by Barcelona but he gave Arsenal one more season after Wenger had convinced him to stay but it reaped no dividends, trophy wise.
Since his departure to Barcelona last season, Fabregas has maintained a close relationship with the club and his songs will be sang when the Catalan giants visit the Emirates in the foreseeable future.
Van Persie on the other hand, has shattered Arsenal hearts into a thousand pieces and he has lost the respect, love, adoration and care many Arsenal fans had for him. I'm not going to go down the loyalty route because that word no longer has a place in football. People say players who have suffered many injuries should stick with clubs who have remained loyal.
Football is not about sentiment – the only truly loyal people in the game are the fans.
Arsene Wenger insists the
decision over van Persie's future will be made with the club's best interests at heart. However, I still wonder if its high time the captaincy is handed over to Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian Verminator will lead the squad travelling to the Far East and it was
believed that Arsene Wenger didn't want to take van Persie with the team as he was afraid that it would impede into preparations for the new season.
Wenger also believes this summer's tour to the Far East will help
foster solidarity and add to the sense of togetherness within the club.
I'll love to know your opinion on the issue of the captaincy for next season, so feel free to vote in the poll below,
In the wake of Arsenal's preseason clash against Malaysia XI tomorrow, Arsenal's boss, Arsene Wenger, has come under the spotlight after he admitted that his side is in for a
tough test when his side plays against their Asian hosts. He also stated that his team lacked sharpness when both sides met last year and he labelled the Asian outfit as mobile and enthusiastic.
When Arsenal locked horns with Malaysia XI last season, the Gunners ran out as 4-0 winners, with goals from Aaron Ramsey, Carlos Vela, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky. Malaysia XI's gaffer, K Rajagobal, is expecting a better performance from his players this time around,
"I want the players to have a better performance than they did last year, we have to do better because we didn't perform very well and we want to see more positives than negatives.
This kind of matches are definitely not easy to come by, playing against one of the best teams in the Premier League. Our players have to make use of it as it's not often you can see the world's best players up close and play against them.
Arsenal have some of the best players in the world and this gives us good preparation before the AFF Suzuki Cup in November."
The game will be aired tomorrow around 2.45pm and I'll give a befitting match review afterwards.
That's today's bit.
Have a great week ahead.
