captains

i've touched on this before, but after watching yet another bolton defeat of arsenal, and a long talk with kiki, i am sure that i have isolated arsenal's true problem: we need a captain. sure we've suffered through injury this year, and we have missed patty's physical presence in the middle (although abu diaby is already picking up the slack) but none of these are terminal problems, and our young strength in depth has kept us in nearly every game we've lost. even with the injuries we should be doing better.

our problem is confidence, and that is a problem only a great onfield leader can fix. henry is not that man. just because you are a great player -- and he's one of the best -- doesn't mean you are a great leader, nor should you try to be. and that leaves arsenal in a bad way because we have no one on the current roster who has what it takes to be a captain.

so if we miss patrick vieira for any reason, and we do, it is because we miss his leadership.

don't believe me?

what truly seperates the big four: chelsea, man utd, liverpool and arsenal? leadership.

man utd and arsenal both lost great leaders, and both teams replaced their leaders with the wrong man. the red devils, however, have a couple of players capable of picking up the mantle. not arsenal.

so here are the best captains in the world. these are the men that make all the difference to their team, turning a really good team into a great team.

Oliver Kahn -- Bayern Munich: The only current keeper with what it takes to be a captain too. He is larger than life, and he can keep his team motivated and in a game even when everything is stacked against them.

John Terry -- Chelsea: A natural born leader. He will personally do anything to win, and the rapport he has with his fellow players is second to none. He's a captain on and off the pitch.

Carlos Puyol -- Barcelona: A lead by example kind of guy. Puyol is not the biggest name on Barcelona, not by a long shot, but his quiet confidence and steady feet make him an exemplar of the non-showy captain.

Paolo Maldini -- AC Milan: A giant. Maldini is a legend in football. A second generation player who may actually be better than his father. He is the elder statesman that keeps AC Milan at the top even though they are getting too damn old for the demanding world of Serie A. He is what all young footballers aspire to, and his charisma makes him one of the finest captains in the world.

Steven Gerrard -- Liverpool: The best at what he does. Liverpool did not win last year's Champs League -- he did. And don't let anyone tell you different. When Liverpool appear down and out Stevie picks them up and carries them to the finish. He makes the rest of the team believe that anything's possible -- and that is the prime talent a captain should have.

and the worst. these are the men who can turn a really good team into nothing much.

Raul -- Real Madrid: A hell of a playmaker. A hell of a scorer. But his contempt for the fans, his arrogance, and his absolute disconnection from his fellow players makes him useless with the armband. Beckham has been Real's true leader this season, and what about Zidane and Casillas? Strange that Raul remains captain with so many other fine choices in the team.

Thierry Henry -- Arsenal: Love him or hate him, his talent can not be denied, but Henry's moodiness and tendency to slip into self-absorption can cast a black cloud over the side. Moreover, his time as captain has turned Arsenal into a one player team -- something that they were not when Patrick Vieira was around. Everyone spends the game trying to get the ball to Henry, and unless he's scoring a hat trick, no one bothers to go for goal themselves (even when he's resting). Henry simply lacks the requirements of a good captain. Maybe Sol Campbell would be a good stop-gap, but he could only be that.

Barry Ferguson -- Rangers: Useless. 'Nuff said.

United 2 - Blackburn 1 (3-2 aggregate )

Well we secured a place at the Carling Cup table with Wigan today. The boys came through with a 2 -1 win over Blackburn. Van Nistelrooy and Rooney put two in the mesh. So at least I'll get to watch Man United in one final match at Millennium Stadium on Sunday February 26th.

arsenal 2 - wigan 1 (2-2 on aggragate)

and wigan go through.

arsenal played a great game. henry showed up. i don't care what anyone says about reyes' penalty kick: he didn't miss it, pollit stopped it.

we were beaten by pollit. pure and simple.

everyone whines about the penalty shoot out, but i think the away goal rule is worse. i'd rather a shoot out to that travesty.

matchday one: team takehashi 18 - inter mrc 1

The new season of MRC Intramural Soccer has begun and Inter MRC have successfully extended their unwinning streak into the new season with their single worst defeat.

Without their talismanic midfielder, Andrzej Prasek, and their two great attackers, Brian Whiffen-Peters and Aussie Bruce, captain/manager Brad Simkulet turned to newcomers Taras Netski and Brian Woychuk to pick up the slack. And while they did a fine job up front it was not enough to overcome the powerful goal scoring abilities of Team Takahashi, nor was it enough to beat their talented keeper Yoshi.

Inter MRC had a couple of fine moments, particularly considering they fielded an almost completely rookie side. Only Kelechi Ugobi and Simkulet were back from last season. Jared Maguire, one of Inter MRC's off-season signings, was in net, and new recruits Erika Pearce, Shae, and Giovanna Schipani came in green and gave brave showings.

Unfortunately, Simkulet's lack of a Plan A, let alone a Plan B, left Inter MRC in trouble at the back, and Maguire had little help as Inter bled goal after goal.

A first half strike by Netski helped the long time losers save a little face, but it was hardly enough to make a dent on the powerful and well put together Takehashis.

Erika Pearce suffered a blow to the nose in the first half, as a ball slammed into her face. She bravely returned for the second half, and continued to put in a strong performance all over the pitch. She will return next week, albeit with blackened eyes.

"Hey, we can only get better," said Simkulet during the post game press conference. "We've got some fine talent, especially the tireless Ugobi, and when we've got the whole team together we'll start to close the gap."

Team Takehashi were impressed with Inter MRC's youth program, and spent the pre-game kicking the ball around with Milos and Bronte.

England's best pundit, Andy Gray, had this to say about Inter MRC: "Having a fine youth program is well and good, but what does it do for the present? Nothing. Inter MRC are just lucky there is no relegation, or their drop to the lower division would be inevitable."

Only time will tell.

injury update:Jared Maguire suffered a sprained thumb and a hamstring injury. Ouch!