8. Relieve Vermaelen Of The Captaincy
Alastair Grant/AP/Press Association ImagesSince Patrick Vieira departed in 2005, Wenger has not replaced the former captain with a natural leader. Current leader Thomas Vermaelen is not leadership material and is mostly used as cover for Koscielny and Mertesacker. Along with rumours of interest from Manchester United, Wenger must change his captaincy in time for the opening match against Crystal Palace. A true captain stays loyal to the club through thick and thin much like John Terry, Tony Adams and Steven Gerard until the club no longer requires their service. Previous captains such as Gallas, Fabregas and Van Persie left the club in the aim to win trophies, with the fans aggrieved in the way they left, and that plainly should not happen. It's difficult to make a specific case for who should become the Arsenal captain with most of the squad being too nice and lacking ruthless aggression. The Invincibles never lost 6-0 or 5-1 in the same season much like Alex Fergusons United rarely lost by a wide margin, and that's because those sides had leaders all throughout the pitch who weren't afraid of lunging into a tackle and who took responsibility. Perhaps the modern side are haunted by terrible injuries to Ramsey and Eduardo and don't want to put their bodies on the line. The difference between Arsenal now and 10 years back is that fans would tune in to see Vieira stand in the tunnel without breaking a smile. Nowadays everyone seems to hug it out before the whistle blows. Maybe Arsenal need to bring in World Cup winner Per Mertesacker's experience as captain?