Paul Merson suggests maverick choice should become Arsenal captain

Arsenal should hand the captain’s armband to David Luiz as the Brazilian defender is a “serial winner” and knows what it takes to win things.

That’s according to Paul Merson, with the Sky Sports pundit claiming Unai Emery’s decision to hand the armband around and not name a permanent successor to Laurent Koscielny and Petr Cech is causing confusion in the Arsenal ranks.

Emery has stated in the past he wants to work with a “leadership group” rather than one set captain at Emirates Stadium, with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil and Luiz all in contention.

But Merson reckons Luiz, who despite only joining Arsenal in a £7m switch from Chelsea over the summer, reckons his track record – which boasts Champions League, Europa League and Premier League success with the Blues over two spells – makes him the outstanding candidate.

That’s despite his dubious tendency to switch off in games – something Emery has had to defend the centre-half over.

Merson explained: “The worrying thing for me is I heard the manager say he’s going to have five captains, which tells me he has no idea what his team is.

“Unai Emery’s been there a year-and-a-half, he’s got to have five captains because he doesn’t have a clue what his best team is. He hasn’t got a clue.

“The good teams are the ones who play virtually the same team every week, but with Arsenal you don’t know who it’ll be from week to week.

David Luiz has got to be captain, he’s a serial winner. People have a go at him because one week he’ll be a 2/10 and the next a 9/10, but he’s going to play every week.

“I’m not the greatest lover of a forward being the captain, but [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang’s another one. Those front three should pick themselves straight away and you go from there – they’ll play every week, if they’re fit.”

 

 

Merson defends Xhaka

Despite not being Xhaka’s biggest fan, Merson stated it is wrong that he gets so much stick from supporters.

He added: “I had a bit of a go at Xhaka the other week, but I don’t like fans booing their players.

“It’s not right and it’s not Arsenal. You’ve got to have a bit more class than that. He’s never stopped trying and even though I had a go at him, you can’t be booing your own players.”

Arsenal’s summer capture of Luiz, meanwhile, was given a significant thumbs up from his former manager at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho.

 

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