We Need a New Captain

I needed a little time. A little time to think things through. A little time to see things in perspective - the good, the bad, the expected, and everything in between. There were recent highs - Wolves, Everton - desperately desperately low in Spurs, and the painfully expected in Braga.

But in between it all, what I'd suspected suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightning when I was watching us against Braga.

You know where our problems started? Right where it matters most: the captain, the heartbeat of any team. Our last trophy - the FA Cup in 2005. And you know what? Who scored that last penalty against Man U? Patrick Vieira. That kick required bollocks, and he delivered. His last kick for Arsenal, and the last trophy-wnning kick for Arsenal.

Since then, we've been called many things - we've played the beautiful game, but right when it has mattered, right when you needed it, we've always missed it. The captain, the leader, who would give the players that boost, just by seeing him stride across the pitch. We had Adams, we had Vieira - from 1997 to the Invincibles. That was it. It was they, who saw us through it. We need a captain who would give Roy Keane a run for his money, who would play on with blood running down his head, who would get up with his teeth knocked out.

What we don't need is a captain who won't. A captain who would pout in the centre circle, a captain who would pull up with an innocuous groin strain and attempt to walk straight off, even before a sub has been put on.

This is not somebody you buy. We bought Patrick Vieira, but we didn't buy Captain Vieira. We didn't buy either Tony Adams or Captain Adams. We groomed them. They became Arsenal. Adams. Captain at 21 in 1988, and for 14 years after. Through the double in 97-98 and 01-02. And Vieira? Signed at 20, and takes over from Adams when he retires. Put it this way. From Captain Adams to Captain Vieira, we had the best years of Red and White History. All 17 years of it.

So after Vieira, we had nobody, and no trophies. We had Henry. God bless the greatest goalscorer we've ever had, but he was never a captain. God bless Gilberto, but there was only so much he could do. Who else have we had? From the sublime to the ridiculous. Gallas and Silvestre, and even Squillaci, all of a couple of weeks old, has worn the arm band.

In Arsene we may trust, but in recognising the importance of finding an Adams, a Vieira, he has failed. He's minimised the role of the captain, and for that, we have paid. You only lose the games we lose, and they way we've lost them, when you lack that one thing: leadership, and the balls it gives you.

As I say, this is not somebody we buy. He either exists now or he doesn't. And he doesn't yet.

Certainly not Cesc. Never was, and with Barca hanging over his limp performances and even limper hamstrings, you can be sure we've seen the best of him. Nasri's a maybe, but he may be one of those who plays best without the burden of leadership. I see two possibilities: Wilshere and Djourou. Combine the two: Djourou's physical presence, and Wilshere's bollocks, and we've got something closer to Patrick Vieira than we've ever had.

Keep them, and teach them well.

In the meantime, hand on heart, we ain't gonna get anywhere. We'll have our flashes of brilliance, and more often than not, moments of utter pain.

But with things in perspective, things can get that little bit less painful. As it was against Braga.

Who knows what will happen against Villa. We may just step it up. We've done so before, with Cesc in recovery. I see it happening, but won't be surprised if it doesn't.

So with this in mind, the Arsewiper's back. I just needed some time. Welcome me back.