Captaincy Is A Needless Crisis For Fabio Capello

With the armband again up for grabs, TEAMtalk’s Ian Watson argues that the practice of naming a single England captain should be scrapped.

The issue of the England captaincy is once again back in the headlines, with players, pundits and supporters clamouring over each other to have their say on whose bicep the armband should sit on. The main question, though, should be – why bother with an international captain at all?

John Terry is set to be handed back the title over a year after he was stood down in favour of Rio Ferdinand, whose personal injury crisis has severely limited his opportunities to lead the team out. Steven Gerrard’s flirtation with the captaincy has grown into more than a casual fling since Terry’s previous indiscretions came to light, while Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Ashley Cole have also stepped out with the armband, right under the Chelsea skipper’s nose.

Fabio Capello wants the reinstatement of Terry to put the issue to bed once and for all, but that will only be achieved by scrapping the idea of having a single skipper.

After all, is the England captaincy not just a needless personal distinction that serves only to boost the ego and marketing potential of a single individual in a squad environment?

On the pitch, it matters not one bit who wears the armband. The missing piece of elastic on Terry’s upper arm has not seen a change in his approach or form since last year, in exactly the same way that Gerrard’s contribution has not been improved while being Ferdinand’s stand-in.

Of course, a team requires certain types of characters, with skippers usually being those who pull or push others along. But as Terry has shown, not possessing the captaincy does not – or certainly should not – alter a player’s nature. A leader will lead on the pitch, regardless of who introduces the starting XI to the dignitaries or dishes out the players’ lounge passes.

Traditionally, a captain was seen as the manager’s representative on the pitch, but given the level of pre-match instruction and dictatorial nature of managers today, a skipper requires no more initiative than the ten men behind him in the tunnel.

If an armband must be worn by anyone, the simple solution would be to hand it to the player with the most caps. If the England captaincy is important enough to the players for them to fall out with one another, perhaps this approach might inspire some of them to report for duty on a more consistent basis.

It seems only in England do we care so much about who captains the national team. Perspective often gives way to passion when it comes to discussing the Three Lions, which does not always have to be a bad thing. But when the issue of who lifts the trophies England aren’t actually winning overshadows much deeper problems in the national game, the wise thing to do would be to scrap the practice of naming an official team captain.