Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has responded to critics who insist his side lack on-field leaders, saying he has several players in the dressing room who take responsibility.
Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta and Thomas Vermaelen – three players who have worm the armband for the Gunners in recent seasons – had at some point all suffered with major injury problems, leaving the club short of on-field leadership over the years.
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The Gunners slumped to a fifth-place finish last term, missing out on Champions League football for the first time in 21 years, and many critics have pointed to a lack of dressing-room leadership as one of the culprits for the Gunners poor season.
But the French manager has insisted that is not the case.
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"We have many leaders," The Frenchman told Viasat.
"The modern life has created maybe a bit less natural leadership because more players are better informed and have a bigger knowledge of the game so everybody contributes.
"It is less centralised on one or two persons. But of course at the moment, I would say Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny are the captains with Petr Cech so the natural responsibility goes to them."
Arsenal have begun the 2017-18 campaign with a 4-3 win against Leicester City and a 1-0 loss at Stoke City last weekend.
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