Make Guendouzi Arsenal captain... he's like Vieira, says Petit

Captain quality: Matteo Guendouzi
PA
Alex Young @alexwsyoung24 October 2019

Emmanuel Petit has questioned Granit Xhaka being made Arsenal captain when Matteo Guendouzi is a far better candidate.

The midfielder was named permanent skipper by Unai Emery last month after a vote among the squad.

Xhaka came out fighting following Arsenal's away loss at Sheffield United, calling criticism of their mental strength "bulls***" after failing to another defeat on the road.

But Petit, who was part of the 1998 Double-winning side under Arsene Wenger, says Guendouzi, who reminds him of Patrick Vieira, would be an improvement given his passion.

"Can you imagine Patrick Vieira on the pitch on Monday night?" he told Paddy Power. "He would have been shouting at his team-mates, asking them: 'What the f*** are you doing?' I don’t see that with Xhaka.

"I do with Guendouzi – he's one of the few who shows he wants to win every game. He’s got a lion’s heart.

"Guendouzi is relied upon a lot by Emery, and that's because he's showing anger on the pitch. He hates to lose games, you can see that he's ready to fight for every single ball.

"He plays to his strengths and he does that well. That's more than you can say for some of the other midfielders.

"Can anyone tell me what is Xhaka’s best quality? I don’t know why he has been made captain. The leadership is absent."

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