Mikel Arteta Asked Arsenal Players To Vote And Pick New Captain: 'Everybody Chose...'
Mikel Arteta asserts that he and his players are confident in Martin Odegaard's abilities as Arsenal captain. The Norwegian player has been captain for three years, during which Arsenal finished second in the Premier League each season. This will not change as the Gunners prepare for their season opener at Manchester United on Sunday.
Club legend Tony Adams suggested that Arteta should hand the captaincy to Declan Rice to help secure the team's first top-flight title since 2004.
Arteta, a former Arsenal captain himself, has dismissed this idea.
'It's not just my opinion," he said Friday, 'it's all the staff and especially the players. I asked them to vote on the captain, and I got the results yesterday. By a mile — by 100 miles — everybody chose the same person, which is Martin Odegaard, which is the clearest sign you can have.
'It's how they feel about who should be their captain, to defend, improve, and win the matches we aim to win," Arteta added. 'There's no question about that."
Odegaard also serves as Norway's captain.
Three consecutive runner-up finishes won't discourage the team, Arteta said.
'You keep digging, digging, digging," he said. 'You have to be digging because one day the gold is going to be there. For three seasons, we have accumulated more points than any other team in this league, which is incredible. Now we need to do it in a season to earn one more point than other teams… that's our objective."
With AP Inputs
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