Arsenal started their new Premier League campaign with a disappointing 2-0 loss at the Emirates stadium, with Unai Emery at the helm after 22 years of Arsene Wenger. Emery has strengthened the side with several new signings that had offered much optimism to Arsenal fans but the reality is they are still far away from challenging for the title.
Looking at the Arsenal players you don’t really get the feeling anyone has the charisma or skill to lead over their teammates, and this isn’t a problem that has just come up this season.
Per Mertesacker was the captain in the last season and he barely played any games, leaving Laurent Koscielny to lead the team for the most part. But with Koscielny’s long-term injury and the retirement of Mertesacker, Arsenal are in dire need of a good captain to lead the group of players.
Unai Emery has chosen Koscielny to be the main captain, with Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka also a part of the leadership group. But none of the players chosen are captaincy material similar to the likes of former captains Cesc Fabregas or Robin Van Persie, both of whom were fans favorites while they were at Arsenal even though the relationship with the club didn’t end well.
Fabregas and Van Persie were ideal captains. World-class on the pitch, they put in dedicated performances week in week out, and their passion to win even when things didn’t go their way were the reasons why they commanded respect from fellow players and the fans.
The player closest to possessing captaincy caliber is Aaron Ramsey, who is now the club’s longest serving player. Ramsey works tirelessly on the pitch to help offensively and defensively.
But while he is a good player, he hasn’t been able to repeat the heroics of the 2013–14 season in which he scored 16 goals and started to look like the complete midfielder many had tipped him to be. After that season, Ramsey has been above average at best, and still lacks the charisma to lead his teammates.
And so the quest to find the perfect captain continues for the Gunners.
Emery has spent most of his transfer budget to improve the defense, with the arrival of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Lucas Torreira aimed at building a solid backline.
In the center back position, Arsenal have Sokratis, Holding, Koscielny, Mavrapanos and Mustafi. But while Emery has a pool to select center-backs from, Holding and Mavrapanos are both not ready to play regularly.
Chambers, meanwhile, had shown promise to be a regular starter during the pre-season but he was sent on a loan to Fulham.
Sokratis is expected to be a starter as Koscielny recovers from his injury but the defender will need to adapt quickly to the Premier League, as a mistake in his position can be quite costly. And Mustafi will have to prove to Emery that he is able to defend without any major mishap.
In left back position, the two main contenders are Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac. Monreal is expected to start ahead of Kolasinac, who was named in the Bundesliga team of the season before his arrival at Arsenal.
Kolasinac seems better going forward than defending, and looks vulnerable against tricky wingers. That will leave Monreal to continue in his position till Kolasinac improves defensive aspect of his game.
Currently, both of them are injured and that has left another hole in an already fragile defense.
In the right-back position, Arsenal had Bacary Sagna who did his job perfectly for many years. But ever since he left, the position has been waiting for a right back who does his job both in attack and defense.
Bellerin has been good since he was introduced and his electrifying run in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Bayern Munich in 2015 made him a star. But last season just didn’t go right for him.
Stephan Lichtsteiner was then recruited to help Bellerin’s revival, and he will also be vying for game time himself.
Overall, the Gunners’ defense often looks uneasy against a high pressing team. And facing a counter-attacking side isn’t one of their strengths either as they lack a speedy center half to recover in time – as seen on many occasions in their match against Manchester City.
Arsenal are also in a difficult situation with Lichtsteiner, Monreal, Koscielny and Sokratis all above 30 years of age. With the youngsters still unreliable, it remains to be seen what Emery will do to address these problems.
Emery was reported to have a limited budget of around £70 million. While he has spent the budget wisely, his inability to clear the deadwood to raise funds for another quality player could have a lasting effect.
Players like Welbeck, Ospina, Jenkinson and Campbell were clearly surplus to the requirements and should have been sold to raise funds for a winger.
Ousmane Dembele was among those linked with a loan move to Arsenal, but that never materialized – leaving Arsenal’s attacking style limited.