Arteta is a natural choice but I'm a bit concerned that we're naming another guy captain who will be gone within the year.
I'm concerned that this means we're not signing a DM. If we did he'd replace Arteta in the starting 11. Why have a captain that's not in the starting 11? So no upgrade at DM (once again), and no serious shot at the title (once again), due to not addressing all of our areas of need (once again).
One theory is that it is a little too soon to give the armband to Ramsey so we're giving it to Arteta who isn't long for Arsenal and not Mertesacker who will be around for years more. Arteta is a half step slow but I thought he did well last season. I didn't like the combination of Arteta and Flamini that Wenger leaned on sometimes but it was more out of necessity I think. Having Alexis will allow him to deploy Ramsey where he needs him. I think we could see Ramsey and Wilshere as the deep midfield on occasion. He has spoken about Wilshere's future as a deep midfielder but deep midfielder doesn't necessarily mean defensive midfielder. He is a decent tackler, though. With TV5 and Djourou on their way out I think Wenger will have to reel in his fantasy of having Chambers playing defensive midfield. We need cover at the back. I am pretty certain he'll make another defensive signing along the lines of Agger or Ogbonna. At this point our need for a defensive midfielder is still present but I don't know if it will be addressed, as you suggest. Adding that kind of player is critical with Arteta and Flamini aging rapidly and if Wenger can't get the guy he wants (Reus, apparently) he'll probably wait one more season. How much that will hurt us is yet to be seen.
