Gabriel Agbonlahor has claimed on TalkSport that he wouldn’t be surprised if someone such as Emiliano Martinez was appointed as Aston Villa captain under Unai Emery.
Former Villa manager Steven Gerrard made the bold decision earlier in the season to strip Tyrone Mings of the captaincy and hand it over to Scotland international John McGinn, who in turn, was dropped for the first game without Gerrard.
Therefore, it certainly raises the question as to whether the armband was weighing McGinn down and putting too much pressure on him, as well as whether Emery will decide to pick his own skipper if McGinn isn’t seen as a natural starter week-in, week-out.
Agbonlahor has claimed that former Arsenal ‘keeper Martinez, who’s started every game this season, would be his choice for captain.
He said: “I think the big thing about the captaincy is that you’re going to have to choose someone that you’re going to see as a starter, so I wouldn’t pick my captain after my first game. I’d wait two or three games and decide which player is going to start.
Would you want Martinez as Villa captain?
Yes!
No!
“Is it Tyrone Mings? Is it Kamara in centre-midfield? Do I keep it with McGinn? Or is it Martinez – my No 1 ‘keeper by a country mile, going to play every game, vocal, a leader? I wouldn’t be surprised if he does give it to Martinez.”
TIF Thoughts on the Villa captaincy…
It’s a good point that Agbonlahor makes in terms of whoever the captain is, as we agree they should be a starter every week for Villa, which at the minute, McGinn certainly isn’t. Therefore, changing the skipper could be something near the top of the agenda for Emery.
Handing the armband to Martinez – someone who’s started all but two games in the Premier League for Villa since joining from Arsenal back in 2020 – would appear to be a safe option for the new boss.
However, the only thing that may go against Martinez is that when ‘keepers are captains, they can’t really get involved with what’s going on outside of his box and therefore means that Villa wouldn’t have someone designated to be allowed to speak to the referee on controversial decisions, so it is indeed a tough situation and may suit an outfield player more.