Pell’s Gunner find it hard to name 1 Irons skipper.. let alone 5
NEW boss Unai Emery says he wants “five captains” in his Arsenal team, but his West Ham counterpart Manuel Pellegrini is struggling to pick even one.
Character is going to be vital when the two teams go head-to-head at the Emirates without a single point between them after both teams made disappointing starts to the season.
While long-term Gunners skipper Laurent Koscielny lifted spirits this week by returning to training after an Achilles injury, Mark Noble (above) will miss the clash due to a back problem.
Earlier this summer Emery called for a handful of players to contest the armband with Koscielny out, but Pellegrini (top) is scratching his head over which one person to make Irons captain. He said: “If Unai thinks five is OK, I don’t have any problem with that. The important thing is not to have the armband, it’s to be a captain. That’s why there are a lot of reasons to choose one. Normally for the amount of years that they are on the team. “But who will be captain without Noble? That’s a good question. It depends on the starting XI.” Marko Arnautovic captained the Irons for 45 minutes during a pre-season friendly when Noble was rested, otherwise Pablo Zabaleta – who Pellegrini worked with previously at Manchester City – is a strong contender.
Pellegrini’s prime concern though is settling upon his strongest team and he warned West Ham fans they may need to be patient until he finds the winning formula. “I don’t know if finding my best XI is closer or not as we need time for a lot of reasons,” he added.
“If you review my career – at Villarreal, at Malaga, in Manchester – the first games were never good games. But as soon as we can win it will be better.“