Arsenal Captaincy Jinx: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stripped off from captaincy as Arsenal’s Captaincy fiasco continues: Arsenal’s fiasco with their captains over the years has been a predominant factor for the North London outfit. Recently manager Mikel Arteta decided to strip off Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s captaincy due to a disciplinary breach. Follow all the Premier League Live Updates only on InsideSport.IN
The Gabonese marksman was allowed to go abroad but only on the promise of returning on Wednesday. But the 32-year-old returned to North London on Thursday morning which irked the Arsenal boss. There were more issues surrounding covid testing protocols and Aubamyeng could only join training after handing a negative PCR report. So Arteta decided to leave him out of the matchday squad in their 3-0 win over Southampton. He is once again ignored from their latest match against London rivals West Ham United.
This might be some kind of deja vu for long term Arsenal fans who are very much habituated to seeing their club captain missing games or leaving the club for various reasons. These things are going on even before the last decade when Arsene Wenger made French defender William Gallas the new Arsenal club captain.
William Gallas (2007-08)
The France international has had a long and successful career in England in the Premier League having plied his trade in three London clubs- Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspurs and Chelsea. However, the unique fact about Gallas is that he has also donned the captain’s armband at all the three clubs which definitely makes the veteran Frenchman unique than the others.
When Wenger took the decision of handing the captaincy to Gallas, the fans were not, particularly as they wanted fan favourite Brazilian midfielder Gilberto SIlva to take the captaincy of the club.
Gallas’ captaincy was stripped after his infamous sitting down on the ground gesture from the French defender who later went to publicly criticise his teammates for not being brave enough. Wenger stripped off his captaincy and was later handed to Spanish midfielder maestro Cesc Fabregas. Gallas stayed at the club for a few seasons before joining arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspurs.
Cesc Fabregas (2008-2011)
From the eccentric Gallas to the calm and composed Fabregas, things must have gone smoothly with the Spanish midfielder ever since he was handed captaincy. But that was not entirely the case with Fabregas. However, his lack of aggression and calm demeanour was also used as his disadvantage as many believed that he is not someone who can motivate the players on the field and can eventually guide them to silverware.
Fabregas in his career was at his peak, the Spaniard was the apple of the eye of Arsene Wenger. But whenever some players perform their socks off there are always inquiries from other clubs. Therefore FC Barcelona were interested in the Spaniard and Fabregas could not resist the temptation of returning to Spain and being a part of a great Barcelona side.
Arsenal did their best to hold the Spaniard at the Emirates but Fabregas went on strike to force his way out to Barcelona, leaving a massive blot on his legacy back in Arsenal.
Robin Van Persie (2011-12)
Fabregas’ departure opened the doors for many players to take up the captaincy role and Wenger after a lot of thought selected Dutch talisman Robin van Persie to lead the Gunners. Van Persie had everything that is required in a leader and he surprisingly did well while donning the captain’s armband.
The Dutchman scored 30 goals in a single Premier League season while being the Arsenal skipper and attracted a lot of interest. He became the heartthrob of the fans and he banged in goals for fun. However, things started moving south when his current contract at the club was ending and he surprisingly had no intentions of extending his stay at North London. It was a major disappointment for the fans as they were about to lose their talisman up front. Bu the thing that enraged the fans was when they got to know that Van Persie joined Manchester United.
Tomas Vermaelen (2012-14)
At this stage, Arsenal needed some security and none could provide them that more than Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgium international was one of the most consistent players in defence and handing him the captaincy was a pretty logical decision from Wenger.
However, something mysteriously wrong happened as Vermaelen struggled with persistent injury concerns and was not able to make his way to the starting lineup. His constant niggles, a poor run of form and waning influence in the team as a leader brought an end to his captaincy spell at the Emirates. He was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s 2014 FA Cup triumph as he also joined FC Barcelona. After a couple of years in Camp Nou, he was loaned out to AS Roma and is now currently plying his trade for J1 League outfit Vissell Kobe alongside legendary midfielder Andres Iniesta.
Mikel Arteta (2014-16)
Clearly, the odd one out in this list has to be Mikel Arteta’s stint as Arsenal captain. The experts at the club understood that Arteta has a great football brain and can try his hand at management after hanging his boots. A gifted midfielder who could break down opposing defences with his passing and vision.
But the problem was his horrible injury record since donning the armband. His injuries saw him only feature in 16 Premier League matches as captain over two years. After retiring Arteta wanted to pursue management and hence he gradually climbed up the ladder. He learned a lot of things during his time at Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s assistant manager. He is currently at Arsenal leading the team to greater heights.
Per Mertesacker (2016-2018)
A pivotal figure in Wenger’s system back in those days, Mertesacker was known for his huge frame and exceptional game reading ability. The German defender would stand like a man not allowing anyone to go past him despite not having the gift of pace. Therefore Wenger’s decision to choose him as the next captain was once again pretty understandable.
However surprisingly with Mertesacker aswell there were some changes in the post captaincy era. The lanky German simply couldn’t stay fit to play a few matches and lead from the back. His commitment and passion for the crest was always evident when he was on the field and hence he is one of the fan favourites at Emirates even today. He struggled with injury only to make a heroic return in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in the 2017 FA Cup finals. The World Cup-winning German defender helped the Gunners win the FA Cup before he was all set to call time to his Arsenal career.
Laurent Koscielny (2018-19)
Nouveau joueur, nouveau maillot, retrouvez-le dès maintenant ici ➡ https://t.co/6Jb2BRKbIo pic.twitter.com/eCfsGaSUYS
— FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins) August 6, 2019
Considering the Frenchman’s ageing body and waning form it was not a wise decision to hand him the captaincy. His struggle with injuries continue as he led the Gunners. He suffered from a bad Achilles injury which would have finished his football carer. But the Frenchman fought his way through to come back to the field to lead the Gunners.
However, he shockingly skipped pre-season to the United States and instead forced a move to French outfit, Bordeaux. However, he took it a step further when he came up with a horrible announcement video at Bordeaux. Koscielny literally took off his Arsenal shirt, threw it away and wore the Bordeaux jersey to mark his arrival. The announcement video made the Arsenal fans mad as the disrespect from their captain was simply unwarranted.
Granit Xhaka (2019)
Despite being a very gifted midfielder who has a lot of ability and potential Xhaka has failed to realise them mainly due to his hot head nature. He was a captain at Borussia Monchengladbach and hence he got the armband at Arsenal aswell. But his ongoing form did not please the fans as they wanted him to be benched. Therefore Xhaka had an outburst during a match against Crystal Palace in October 2019.
What irked the Swiss midfielder the most was the jeers from his own fans after he was called to be substituted by Bukayo Saka. Xhaka who was visibly disappointed with his performances of late was pushed to the corner by his own fans as they continued to jeer him on his way out of the ground. Xhaka who simply could not control his emotions came back with a few foul words before heading onto the tunnel.
The fans wanted then manager Unai Emery to strip off his captaincy and the Spaniard did just that. However, Arsenal teammates had to pay Xhaka a visit to console him as he was frustrated and did not want to turn for the club again. But the 29-year-old Swiss midfielder has fought his way back and has won the fans over with his consistent performances and is now one of the starting players in Arteta’s setup.
It will be interesting to see who gets the captain’s armband next at Arsenal and whether that player can turn the fortunes of the armband or not.
Arsenal Captaincy Jinx: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stripped off from captaincy as Arsenal’s Captaincy fiasco continues
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