Arsenal: Laurent Koscielny captaincy right, wrong, or who cares?

Arsenal’s captaincy has been announced, and Laurent Koscielny will retain his spot. Is this good, bad, or who actually cares?

Prior to the all-important opening match against Manchester City, Unai Emery is knocking out some of the lingering question at Arsenal, such as who the starting keeper will be and who the captains are.

Emery lived up what he initially told us he was going to do – he wanted five captains, and the club now has give captains. But among the five, one will be given top charge, and that top charge is being given to Laurent Koscielny.

Koscielny was the defacto under Arsene Wenger because he fit the billing – he was old and Wenger liked him. That’s all it had taken in recent years.

It felt like Emery might do something different, like he might shake things up, but in answering both questions, he essentially did exactly what Wenger would have done.

He made the safe choice at keeper and he kept the same main captain, despite numerous questions over whether Koscielny was captain material to begin with. No one questions his importance, but that doesn’t always translate to a great captain.

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So, with Emery sticking with Koscielny, even in spite of his lengthy injury lay-off, we have to ask ourselves what we think about the decision. But it’s not a yes or no question. There is a third option of ‘who actually cares’?

I make a big deal out of the captaincy because I do believe the captain should be someone who can embody the club and be a leader on and off the pitch. The only reason I included the third option is because, with five captains and Koscielny out for months, it stands to reason that he won’t even play that many games with which to utilize that captaincy.

Like Per Mertesacker.

So it may come down to being an honorarium title, like it has been in years past, but with the caveat of having actual captain-like players beneath him taking on the charge, which we now have. And those four guys underneath him are all capable of leading this club in his absence and, when he returns, in his company too.

In case you haven’t gotten the answer to the question yet, let me lay it out for you – it doesn’t really matter. In fact, hell, let’s just say that it’s the right decision because it keeps everyone happy. That’s always a good thing.