Disruptive Unai Emery mistake that Mikel Arteta identified and fixed at Arsenal

Unai Emery made a number of mistakes during his reign as Arsenal boss, but one of his biggest stemmed from letting debate around the captaincy linger too long.

In October of 2019, Granit Xhaka was stripped of the Gunners armband after an on-pitch meltdown saw him swear at fans before throwing his shirt on the ground. The decision to hand the Switzerland international the role came after a vote from players, rather than Emery making the decision himself.

Xhaka's role as skipper lasted less than a month before his meltdown meant the role was eventually given to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. However, for much of Emery's tenure, a lot of the discourse about Arsenal's captain centred around a 'five-man leadership group' made up of multiple players recognised as the most senior.

This seemed to only create more problems than solutions and as a result, current boss Mikel Arteta swiftly scrapped that when he took over. After an awkward transitional phase, the 2022/23 season saw Martin Odegaard named as Gunners skipper.

Arteta has long valued what the player who boasts the armband represents and as a former Arsenal captain himself, he is well aware of the responsibility that comes with the role. Speaking shortly after his appointment in late 2019, the Spaniard said: "The more stability we can generate with our captain and the players we have in the squad, I think the more clarity we will have to transmit to the fans what we are trying to do.

"There are many factors, some we cannot control, but at the moment everything is OK and not the time for me to change things in place because I haven't seen real things to make the decisions.

"I have been at clubs that have four or five captains. It is more a leadership group than captains. At the end it is one guy wearing the armband and after the team picks the leaders."

Odegaard is clearly someone Arteta trusts and has previously been heralded as Arsenal's manager on the pitch. It is always Odegaard that the manager chooses to summon over to the touchline to relay further tactical instruction and it comes as a little surprise that the first season with a sole captain saw the club look significantly more stable.

The Gunners launched their first real title charge for many years and topped the table for the majority of the campaign, only to fall short at the last stages. Arteta often talks about the value of having leaders in the group and did so again earlier this summer.

"We have many leaders in the squad," he added. "We have a captain which is Martin and you have seen in pre-season when there are changes as well, when you have number two and three and then it’s number four and five."

As Arsenal look to go one better this time around and actually lift the Premier League for the first time since 2004, they'll be all the better for the fact they have a standout leader donning the armband, rather than the constant chopping and changing that marred Emery's stint.