Do Arsenal need a new captain?
I have a new Guest Poster this morning. He is a Gunners fan called Toby and you may have seen his various comments on Just Arsenal before now. As his first contribution Toby would like to discuss Cesc Fabregas….
Should Fabregas be our captain
Before you all go mad just take the time to read and reflect the points I’m about to make.
Cesc is undoubtedly a fine player who has contributed much to the Arsenal cause, but was Wenger right to give him the armband at the start of the season.
This season has seen a greater need than ever for a leader to emerge from this group of talented young players and push them onwards to a team that wins silverware, but who is the best man to do so. Many would claim Cesc to be that man but is he what’s best for the club at this moment in time?
Recent comments from players like Denilson suggest he may not be the choice of the dressing room, i can understand why fellow teammates are finding it hard to get behind a player who will not commit his future to the club beyond the end of this season. Of course the words from Denilson were immediately quashed but maybe this all adds to the players resentment and lack of respect towards him. He seems untouchable at times with Wenger constantly shielding him from any form of criticism, internally or externally! So what do the players make of it all and what effect is it having on the team.
My personal view is; while Adam Kemp recently asked the question “Is Wenger bigger than the club”, I would like to put the same question to Cesc. In my opinion his second half performance at Newcastle was not befitting of a leader (he was anonymous) but that’s just my opinion. Has he more importantly lost the support of his teammates due to the constant speculation over transfers, and his unwillingness to pledge his allegiance to this club?
The bottom line is regardless of whether Cesc is a good leader or not, come the end of the season we will lose his services and no direct replacement is obvious, it would have made more sense to find one before this happened but this is where were at now. Maybe Cesc leaving will actually help the team, many times before high profile players have left the Emirates and this has let other players in the squad flourish and emerge as leaders.
One thing is for certain though this current crop of Arsenal players have for too long lived under the shadow of Cesc and the constant uncertainty of their captain’s future. With his departure the team might be able to finally move on and a new leader will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes. But hey, not before we make Barcelona pay well over the odds!
Before you respond this is not an attack on Cesc, but simply about whether the Barcelona situation and him being captain is what is best for our current team…….
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Right now Cesc is what we have anywhere near a captain..Certainly when he plays he is the influence on other players..Young players like Wilshere look at him as a role model…
Any1 else in the team who can be a leader,then i would have to say Vermaeleen…He certainly has the qualities to be the “leader”….
What happened at newcastle was one time syndrome(hopefully)..
Cesc will leave at the end of the season. Wenger should have a master plan to back it up…
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He is a very good captain, the thing is that he cannot keep an eye on squillaci. so don’t blame him for the 4-4.
I don’t think if he can influence on picking players, because then that would be his flaw, but i doubt it. Overall, considering his position he is a great captain.
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I would like to see Thomas Vermaelen be our captain from next season. At the moment we do not have alot of options other than Cesc. Maybe Van Persie but let him rather focus on his game…
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”Is diaby fit to be an arsenal player” my article follow
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Wow this is the first time I heard that Cesc is leaving Arsenal end of season. To where? Chelsea or Barca or is it Real Madrid? Just because Chelsea want to bid 50M and Barca say they will continue tapping him, doesn’t mean he will move. You said you not attcking Cesc, but by making false statement isn’t it just an attack or slandering against Cesc?
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You must be crazy!!!He is by far the best we’ve got and his commitment to the club is unquestionable…His leadership abilities should not be judges just on the basis of his performance in the match against Newcastle..
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Cesc is an outstanding player and an excellent captain – leading by example. So no need to go into that about him, Sir. On the Newcastle game, the referee killed his desire to play; for that matter all the players lost their desire to play with such decisions. I think Arsenal is a great team with great players who work as a team. The team will notwin any title not because of Cesc’s performance or any other player’s weaknesses but because of directly visible bad decisions from referees.
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with the exception of Squillaci, he is never on line with his defensive teammates, nor in accordance with the positioning or tactic of the team.
He still has almost half of the season to prove us wrong, and show what he is an arsenal player. I hope he will. He better prove us wrong.
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Cesc is our captain full stop.
As for alternatives for motivators from our first choice players? Candidates have to include RVP and Nasri up front and Vermaelen in defence.
But, yet again, the one player who’s impressed me in his efforts to communicate and organize is Johan Djourou. He never loses concentration and is always reacting to what transpires on the pitch. He never provokes referees. Never loses his composure. He’s always pointing and shouting. He speaks three(?) languages. It’s quite possible his leadership gets the best out of Koscielny when the two are playing together which might explain why Kos isn’t so good when Squillaci is next to him.
And how many goals have we conceded this season when JD20 has been on the pitch?
Eight months older than Cesc, he has to be a future captain of the club if FF4 ever decides to leave.
As for Cesc leaving? Anyone who thinks he could possibly join Chelsea for any amount of money is an idiot. Anyone who thinks he could possibly join real Madrid is also an idiot. Anyone who thinks both of these things ought not to be allowed outside without proper supervision.
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im really started to get annoyed by these so-called “fans.” we overcome the refs mistake against everton and we are a team of strong character. we tie against the toons and all of a sudden we have an internal crisis as no player has stepped up to be a leader. it wasnt just the players fault our beloved manager messed up too
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So , Cesc “won’t commit his future to the club beyond the end of this season” and “the bottom line is” – “come the end of this season we will lose his services”. Where did you get that shit from ? A little bird told you , did it ?
His current contract expires in 2014 – and when he signed, it was an 8 year deal. This is the guy who won’t commit his future to Arsenal!! As for him going at the end of this season ,that’s your opinion buddy – NOT FACT .Or do you believe all you hear on Talk Shite Radio ?
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Apart from his imminent departure to Barca there is no faulting his leadership. To use the Newcastle game as an example of poor captaincy is just not on.
That game changed when injury forced the substitution. Squillaci’s first contribution was to play that hostipal pass to Diaby who had his back to him, and Sagna was free wide and calling for a simple and much easier pass. This, of course, resulted in the sending off, and increased Newcastle’s momentum.
I have said it before and will repeat now that our first 12 or 13 are ideal for honours this year, but sadly after that the replacements severely weaken the team. We will never win anything with Bendter, Denilson, Eboue and Squillaci on the field at the same time.
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who knows fabregas might even stay ?
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Three mistakes arsene made at the newcastle game
1: introducing of rosicky to d game, when he knows the game was alittle balance at 70 minutes
2: puting eboue who has no pace to push any defence back
3: failing to change tactics whilst 1 man down, he could have changed d formation to 4 4 1
4: not introducing a defencive midfielder, some1 who can make good tackle while under pressure… In addittion to this THE REFEREE WAS THE CAUSE TO OUR DOWN FALL
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What u’ve written seems 2 av no factual basin; u only made emphasis to the newcastle game. Moreover who do u suppose shd lead arsenal?
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Thomas V. is the only candidate to be Arsenal capitain otherwise Cesc is not very good as such be a skipper!On future Aaron Rambo or Jack are favorite to be Arsenal capitain!
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SOME TIME WE LACK BELIEVE FOR OUR TEAM. IF TO SAY WE WON THAT MATCH AGAINST NEWCASTLE WITH SIX GOALS MARGIN, WILL YOU POST SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND QUESTION CESC LEADERSHIP. CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MANY TIME WE LOST MATCH HAVING FABREGAS ON THE PITCH OR HOW MANY TIME WE WON MATCH HAVING CESC ON THE PITCH. ANOTHER QUESTION IF TO SAY ARSENAL SLUMP THE WAY CHELSEA DID IN THEIR PAST THREE MONTH; WHAT WILL YOU SAY. MUST WE WIN ALL THE MATCH.
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vermalean is the best choice after cesc. He was captain of ajax and is also the captain of the belgian national team, so it will be nothing new to him. He is also commanding and reliable at the back and his english is impeccable.
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nice to see its a talkin point , listen guys article is totally subjective . and performance against necastle was just my opinion nothing more . just wondering how the whole will he wont situation with barca is affecting the players and the dressing room . truth is no one except the players and wenger no the answer but im sure it must affect them all in some way . if nothing else theres a very good chance thier gonna lose thier captain and best player sooner rather than later . just think theres something more behind denilsons comments a bigger problem maybe . keep the opinions coming everyones entitled to thier say .
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This is not an attack on Cesc? Really??
“i can understand why fellow teammates are finding it hard to get behind a player who will not commit his future to the club beyond the end of this season.” So which fellow team mates are finding it hrd to get behind Cesc?
Toby’s first problem was the reference to Denilson…..and his opinion should count because? Denilson even if he was “misquoted” should never draw attention to himself as long as he possesses the tackling inability he displayed recently….and by the way wasnt it Cesc who came on late in the game and saved our bacon…oh yes it was. (Not to mention the penalty he took with a broken leg against who? Oh yes Barcelona)
Cesc Fabregas has been the soul of Arsenal for the last few years and doesnt deserve an article like this.
Alan Green in the Belfast Telegraph is also taking pot shots at Cesc…. (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/alan-green/alan-green-foul-fabregas-not-fit-to-lead-arsenal-15076566.html)
declaring Wenger was wrong and Moyes was right….the problem is was Moyes right the first time(Fabregas slated the ref with comments so bad Moyes couldnt bring himself to repeat them) or the second time( Fabregas spoke in a calm and calculated way accusing Everton of bribing officials – but he would never repeat that to the FA cause he doesnt want to accuse Cesc…other than in the press of course)
Until the likes of Alan Green et al are willing to openly criticize Rooney’s foul mouth rants in the referees face or Fletcher running 30m to manhandle the referee they have no moral ground to criticize Cesc or any other player.
After the Moyes debacle the Xenephobic English media have ran riot with the Cesc witch hunt and the last thing we need is another Xenophobic Englishman pretending to be an Arsenal fan slagging off at the captain…Just Arsenal should be ashamed for running blogs like Kemp and this one….Oh and by the way Cesc signed a 5 year contract and this year restated his commitment to Arsenal – the rest is just media hype – and beside Barcelona couldnt afford him even if they wanted him
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I think it is almost certain that Cesc will leave the Club at the end of the current season. Preferably to Barcelona but with their reported financial problems, it could be elsewhere. Provided we received £60m+ for him, I don’t care where….even Chelsea or Manure. We should then spend the money on a player or two, appoint Vermaelen as skipper and prepare for next season.
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terrible article
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all opinions have a rite to be heard , i unlike kemp though except mines just an opinion . if cesc stays ill gladly eat humble pie and if he leaves he has my full support . i no hes a much loved player so a very difficult subject to talk about . but the whole point of the article is not about cesc or even if hes going , but has the constant speculation affected him and the players around him . its the most talked about non transfer in history. look how much we all talk about it , so are we naieve enough to think the players dont have views on the matter to ? im actually being loyal to the team as my concern is how they feel about it all . knobody has mentioned that yet though .
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I think the perception that Cesc doesn’t get respect because he’s not committing to the club is misleading. In today’s football (Arsenal’s entire 1st eleven included)loyalty counts for nothing. Need I remind you that even the Wenger we trust has threatened us (with Real Madrid) before-so let’s not ask questions to which we’ll not like the answers. The only time you can talk about loyalty is when a player cannot command a regular place and his agent cant find any suitors.
There’s no doubt it would be more distabilising for Wenger to take away the captaincy from Cesc now’ but one always looks at Vermalaen and sees a natural born leader. So if indeed Cesc does go, then the Verminator is my choice!
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Many teams have and will continue losing their captains. In the Uk so much emphasis is placed on who’s wearing the armband that people 4get about the value of each player. @ arsenal the team is marshaled by a collective its been said often since b4 viera’s time. I agree(sarcasm) Wenger shouldn’t protect Cesc from the media we should leave him out in the cold since you have the exclusive on his eminent transfer. Denilson should be captain as he was the 1st to talk about the apparent dressing room disharmony obviously he has the fans backing from what I gather here.
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toby u are following the foot step of adam “camp” criticising our players(good),manager and entire members of the club.shame on you guys.cesc is always committed to Arsenal.LOVE U CESC
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good to see opinions , unfortunatley still yet to hear a single comment on what the article is actually based on tho. has the speculation over the move affected the players or the dressing room ? still got my fingers crossed that before the end of the day atleast one person will actually read it properly, and offer thier view on what i thought was a totally legitimate point and question to ask .
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Toby may be right in his article in one thing. Cesc will move to Barch but he is still focusing in every game he plays. I HOPE TOBY ANSWER MY QWASTION. ISNT RVP GOOD ENOUGH TO BE A CAPTIN?
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@rvp
djourou , vermalen , sagna , vanpersie all good enough and played well enough to be captain . vanpersie if fit maybe 1st choice
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i think is a great player but i don’t think he’s the best captain. he does set an example in the way he plays and he is a role model but during games he never encourages players and this whole barca situation is not really his fault but it is wrong news for the younger players to hear about their captain.
Cesc does feel that he needs to repay arsenal fans, players, staff and most importantly AW.
Massive problem is that the team he supported, where he grew up, where he speaks their language, nows the players and where his family are is BARCELONA!!!! i HATE that fact but it’s true..
If i put myself into his shoes i would be tempted to move, won’t you?? we all support arsenal, so say if you played for Juventus or Sevilla etc. and had an offer and plenty of speculation from arsenal(if say we were again the invincibles and winning everything) for a transfer would you not want to go?
Having said that, Cesc is not in his prime yet and this looks like a loan move – 16 needs exp. so comes to arsenal gets it and then they want him back!!!!!
As a passionate arsenal fan i say ‘F**K you barca C**TS, Get a F***IN life!!’ and ‘WHAT the F**K CESC!!
But as a person i say ‘i understand…follow your heart & be happy because (not in a gay way) I think your the best, the amount of times i’ve cried with happines shouting your name when arsenal have played, you deserve to be happy’
Now i’m quite upset…I love arsenal and all i want is to see my team, i don’t give a S**T about what people say about our 5-6 year trophy-less run, I’ll love em’ no matter what…even Almunia & Denilson..
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Cesc is amazing player and important to us …he is captin at the moment but we need captin with leadership who can provoke and ask his players to put bit more afford to change the game in need.which is missing on him. captin play vital role on pitch. i can understand he is young i hope he will learn other and give us what we looking in him. alex songs can be good captin in future he have kind of that sprites..
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Who comes up with this bull we have a Captain and the best one in the country. “Cesc Fabregas”
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arsenal do need a new captain.
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