Imagine an Arsenal captain lifting one of the sport`s most prestigious trophies. Who comes to mind? For many, it will be the figures who led the club through its greatest triumphs: Patrick Vieira, with the Highbury ticker tape at the close of the `Invincibles` season; Tony Adams in a yellow shirt on that remarkable Anfield night 36 years ago. For those with a longer memory, perhaps Frank McLintock, fresh from rallying the troops at Wembley to clinch the double in 1971, hoisted high by his teammates.
These leaders epitomize the stereotypical idea of leadership in English football. They put their bodies on the line, artfully bent the rules, and covered every inch of the pitch in pursuit of victory. They were captains, leaders, legends. Such players often seem rare in a sport that has increasingly prioritized technical skills over intangible qualities. Curiously, Arsenal possesses at least one such individual, a man who, in true Adams fashion, rose through the ranks to lift silverware: Declan Rice, the first West Ham skipper to win a trophy in 43 years.
Given their shared traits, it was perhaps unsurprising when Adams, earlier this week, advocated for the midfielder to be handed the Arsenal armband. The man known as `Mr. Arsenal` asserted that Rice could `lay the foundations of a title-winning team,` a feat he insisted current captain Martin Odegaard could not achieve.
Odegaard`s Unanimous Mandate
Nevertheless, had Adams been present for a vote in the Arsenal dressing room on Thursday, he would have found himself decisively outnumbered. Mikel Arteta, in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday`s trip to Manchester United, revealed that the first-team squad had selected their leadership group for the new season via a vote. In this process, Odegaard won `by a mile, by a big, big 100 marks, everybody choosing the same person.` One suspects the decision brought no great shock to Arteta, the coach who brought the Norwegian to the Emirates Stadium in 2021 and appointed him club captain the following year.
`Martin possesses hundreds of qualities,` Arteta stated. `Anyone who encounters him will notice them very quickly. The most significant is that to be named captain, to be respected and admired by someone, he doesn`t need to open his mouth. That`s a massive quality. Many people talk and shout, but then behind closed doors, they act very differently. Martin isn`t like that. He doesn`t need to speak, and everyone will say, “He`s my captain, I want him to represent me, I trust him 100%, he`s the guy I want next to me.” That says it all.`
Odegaard will undoubtedly use Adams` comments as motivation for a new season, where he, like everyone at Arsenal, is determined to end the long wait for major silverware. If he needed any reminder of the high esteem in which his teammates hold him, the vote provided just that. There are clear reasons why his teammates value the Norwegian so highly.
A Leader Beyond the Roar
Those who know him well speak glowingly of his pastoral qualities. Odegaard seeks out new arrivals and young players, going out of his way to ensure they settle into the environment. As a player thrust into the limelight at 16 when Real Madrid won the pan-European race for his services, he is uniquely positioned to advise Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri, and Max Dowman on transforming potential into performance.
Adams might not envision Odegaard `clashing heads` on the field, but the current Arsenal captain knows how to convey his message effectively. Those familiar with his actions behind closed doors will confirm that Odegaard is not afraid to shout or show passion when the situation demands it. And when he does, his message carries significant weight.
Arteta had called the vote to reflect changes within the leadership group following the summer transfer window. Jorginho frequently wore the armband before his move to Flamengo, and while Gabriel Jesus remains at the club, his capacity to lead the team is limited as he recovers from injury. Players such as Bukayo Saka, Rice, and Gabriel Magalhães are now expected to wear the armband when Odegaard is not on the field.
`Ultimately, what matters most is how these guys feel about who needs to lead them, how comfortable they are, who will push them, who will give them support when it`s needed,` said Arteta. `Basically, who do you want to represent the club and the team when we go out there and face any opposition? That`s the key.`
The Weight of the Armband
For some, the identity of a captain at any club might seem merely a formality, a ceremonial position of ever-decreasing importance as football becomes more systemized. At Arsenal, however, the armband has frequently carried great significance. In the years following Adams and Vieira, the captaincy became devalued under Arsene Wenger, who used it as a means to retain players like Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie for an extra season or two.
Simultaneously, others at the Emirates Stadium were concerned about the devaluation of the captaincy. Then-chief executive Ivan Gazidis was known to be an avid reader of `The Captain Class,` a 2016 book positing that the singular quality shared by the greatest teams across all sports was transformative individual leadership. Its author, Sam Walker, subsequently collaborated with Arsenal owners KSE.
Odegaard might not be the old-school rabble-rouser Adams was, but he has long understood his potential to unite his teammates. This summer, every new Arsenal signing received a handwritten note from a teammate, with most coming from the club captain. Odegaard arranges gatherings for teammates and their families, and Saka regularly visits to watch matches with him. His friendship with Kai Havertz has delighted social media.
Performance as Leadership
Ultimately, the most effective way for Odegaard to reaffirm his status as a leader in the Arsenal squad is the same method employed by Adams, Vieira, McLintock, and Arteta during their captaincies: by being one of the team`s best players. For Odegaard, this status was rarely, if ever, questioned before last season, when the 26-year-old struggled to shake off an ankle injury suffered in September, delivering just six goals and 12 assists across all competitions—a noticeable drop from the 20-plus goal involvements he had provided in the preceding two campaigns.
`Nobody else is going to be more [determined to improve],` said Arteta. `The way Martin trains, plays, prepares himself, the demands he places on himself: there is no question about that. Our job is to provide him with the best context, tools, and players around him to facilitate his qualities. We`re ready to do that.`
If those qualities are facilitated to the highest level, then questions surrounding Odegaard`s captaincy will surely dissipate. After all, what better way to lead than by scoring and assisting as many goals as the captain did prior to last season? Should this lead to the silverware Arsenal has been craving, Odegaard may well secure his place among the pantheon of great captains in red and white.
