Arsenal’s quest for Europa League glory has taken them to Sweden, to a team most of their supporters had never even heard of a few weeks ago.
Ostersunds FK, who were only formed a matter of weeks after Arsene Wenger became Gunners’ manager, played host to the London club on Thursday evening, before a crowd of less than 10,000 people.
Several Arsenal regulars missed the trip to Scandinavia, including the likes of Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. This meant that, for one night only, Wenger would be handing the captain’s armband to a new player.
To many, the likes of Mesut Özil, Shkodran Mustafi or even Nacho Monreal might have seemed like sensible choices to lead the team out in Sweden. However, when the team arrived, it emerged Wenger had opted to name goalkeeper David Ospina as the stand-in skipper.
Although giving the captaincy to the Colombian for the night might not have seemed like a big deal to many, it clearly was a big deal to plenty of Gooners. In the moments after the team was announced, many of them used Twitter to vent their disappointment at the decision.
Ospina captain…..
Heard it all now.
That shows you just how much importance Arsene places on a having a leader out there on the pitch.
Zero.
After watching Adams and Vieira you’d think he’d always want that level of man on the field.
— East Lower (@ArsenesGlasses_) February 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/wood10_/status/964187213960445952
I could deal with going from unbeaten PL winners to actually trying to win the atrocious Carabao Cup. I could deal with seeing our best players leave to rivals. I could even deal with getting ritually battered by rivals. But Ospina captain? It's all over.
— Michael Keshani (@MichaelKeshani) February 15, 2018
Ospina Captain over Ozil, Mustafi and Monreal pic.twitter.com/nFGhyd04Wb
— P™ (@SemperFiArsenal) February 15, 2018
Hang on, what’s that armband around Ospina’s arm? Surely he isn’t captain?!!
— Rice Rice Baaaaby (@4949_Undefeated) February 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/KingWallyy1/status/964205130928156672
Arsene Wenger giving the captain’s armband to David Ospina says everything you’d need to know about how much Wenger respects the captaincy. #Arsenal
— Bøyce (@samuraihawk) February 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/GingerJordan27/status/964198636002439169
