Paul Merson Advocates For David Luiz To Be Named Arsenal Captain
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has called on Unai Emery to make David Luiz captain for the side due to his track record as a serial winner.
Arsenal have been without a substantive captain ever since Laurent Koscielny departed the club to Bordeaux in acrimonious circumstances over the summer.
Granit Xhaka has been skippering the side for majority of the season but his performances have not been of the required standard and was jeered by his own fans when he was substituted in the second half of last Sunday’s 3-2 win over Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.
Emery intends to name five captains for Arsenal this season, and he confirmed last week that a decision will be made after Wednesday’s Carabao Cup game against Nottingham Forest.
David Luiz only joined Arsenal for £8m from Chelsea in the summer and has started the last five Premier League games for the Gunners.
The 32-year-old has already provided Arsenal fans with a couple of heart-in-mouth moments, giving away two penalties in his handful of appearances, but Merson believes the Brazilian, who has won league titles in England, France and Portugal should be made permanent captain.
"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," Merson told The Debate.
"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.
