Arsenal FC is a proud club with a wonderful tradition of captains. If you examine the club's history you would see it has been captained by men of great stature and footballing ability, players such as Frank Mclintock, Tony Adams, and Patrick Vieira provide fitting examples of wonderful Arsenal captains of the past.
These were men who inspired their teams through thick and thin and became figureheads not just for their teammates but for the club as a whole. These were also captains of some of Arsenal’s most successful teams, and perhaps this illustrates the importance of the captaincy to any team, a great captain often leads a great team.
It is interesting to note the importance and the qualities which former Arsenal captains have had, with regard to the current incumbent William Gallas. A man who has split opinion over both his captaincy and his own personal attitude, and as such, bearing in mind the lack of whole-hearted support for Gallas and the importance which the role of captain can have to any team, surely the question must be asked is William Gallas the right man to lead Arsenal?
YES
As the old adage (which will forever haunt Alan Hansen) goes, “You can’t win anything with kids." Certainly this Arsenal team is one of immense promise, you only have to see their performance in demolishing Sheffield United to see the potential.
Yet potential alone can only take you so far and often an experienced head is needed in order to guide and aid the development of young players especially in a league as hard as the Premiership.
Gallas certainly fulfils that role of an experienced head, people often forget that this is a player who has been capped 68 times by France and has won two Premiership titles and the Carling Cup with Chelsea. Certainly when it comes to experience there are none more experienced in this Arsenal team.
On top of this, there are his admirable qualities as a player, there are few better defenders around the world and he certainly has the quality of play and reputation to lead by example and is an integral part of Wenger’s team.
Gallas himself seems to revel in being the leader of the team, this season alone he has scored crucial goals against FC Twente and Dynamo Kiev and often leads the team from the back by bringing the ball out of defence.
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