Rex wrote:
Yeah, I am opposed to that actually. I can well see a scenario where Mertesacker will be one of the players in the first XI we want to upgrade in a year or two, and for that reason I think giving him the armband now is unwise; we may end up with a situation just like the one we are currently in with Vermaelen, and that is far from ideal IMO.
The perfect solution for me would be to keep Vermaelen another year and continue with the current situation, and then give the armband to Ramsey. We really should aim to get a long term solution to this, and Ramsey looks the best candidate to me. He is not very vocal, but he leads through example. We still will need vocal leaders like Arteta and Mertesacker though.
If we are to push forward into a more dynamic system, then he needs to be culled. For all his strengths, there's no denying that he forces us to play a deeper line. We are unable to squeeze up the pitch and press effectively with a CB who wants to drop back. His limitations in regards to tactics were unfortunately exposed at the World Cup for Germany. If we are to continue playing on the break, though, then this isn't so much of an issue.
However, if we intend to press teams effectively, then we need defenders who are comfortable in high positions. What we cannot do is have forwards looking to press, and defenders who want to drop off. This creates far too much space in the middle of the park, and you could argue Arteta was left hanging because of this. Meaning he had too much space to cover between the attack and midfield.
