Arsenal: Let’s be careful with that ‘Rob Holding future captain’ talk

Arsenal will be needing a new captain, but with the curse of the armband alive and well, maybe we best limit the chit-chat a bit and not jump the gun.

Arsenal‘s captain situation just became a double mess with Laurent Koscielny going off the cuff and refusing to go to America with the club. As the captain, this undoubtedly means that his time is limited. Petr Cech is also gone, also under sketchy circumstances and Aaron Ramsey. The once and future captain, is no longer.

With Mesut Ozil so far out of favor, that leaves Granit Xhaka. I’m fine with that. But not everyone is. And Jack Wilshere believes it’s his countryman, Rob Holding, who should be the captain, if not now, then in the future.

Nothing negative to say about that. Holding is a tremendous, he’s got a great personality, and you can see some leadership blossoming there already.

My beef comes with the bad juju attached to anything related to the Arsenal captaincy. It’s been cursed for years. It used to signify that a player’s time was coming to an end (Patrick Vieira, Robin van Persie), then it was used as a commemorative ‘attaboy’ (Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta).

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Now, no one can keep the armband. Everyone that has been tagged as the player to be the captain of the future is no longer with the club. Jack Wilshere, gone. Aaron Ramsey, gone. These are the guys we talked about holding down the band for years to come, and they have all left under less than desirable circumstances.

Then there’s Koscielny, who looks to be leaving the captaincy in disgrace and Cech’s quick draw Chelsea return was a bit of an eyebrow raiser as well.

Maybe I’m old school in my assessment of the captaincy, but I want someone around for the long-term, yet any time we get close, it explodes in our faces.

Which is why I’m so nervy about this whole “future captain” Rob Holding business. That’s playing with some serious juju and I don’t like it. I feel like the armband has become more of a curse than a blessing lately, and I don’t want Holding to be the latest victim of the curse.

Of course, maybe we give him the armband and he serves proudly for a decade. That would be one way to prevent me ever having to talk about curses and armbands ever again.