Jump to content
talkfootball365
  • Welcome to talkfootball365!

    The better place to talk football.

Is there a point to captains in football?


football forums

Are captains pointless?  

15 members have voted

  1. 1. What do you thinK?



Recommended Posts

  • Replies 32
  • Created
  • Last Reply

tbh a leader will lead a group regardless of a piece of elastic and captaincies are largely ceremonial for the sake of ego. Very few sports actually delegate responsibility to the captain and the only one I can think of is cricket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Spike said:

tbh a leader will lead a group regardless of a piece of elastic and captaincies are largely ceremonial for the sake of ego. Very few sports actually delegate responsibility to the captain and the only one I can think of is cricket.

Another sport that comes to mind is Icehockey, where only the captain is allowed to talk to the refs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The title was changed to Is there a point to captains in football?
7 minutes ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

Another sport that comes to mind is Icehockey, where only the captain is allowed to talk to the refs.

Yeah but they don't enforce it very often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Rucksackfranzose said:

Don't know about the NHL and other North American leagues, but they do indeed in European leagues, though.

I don't think it's too much of an issue of players approaching the match officials but they do swear at them while skating away xD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

Another sport that comes to mind is Icehockey, where only the captain is allowed to talk to the refs.

I thought that was in idea in football as well.  They just don't seem to enforce it though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Subscriber

I think its fine but largely agree it doesnt matter much. The "A's" in hockey or alternate captains are a group along with the captain that all or any can deal with the refs etc, collectively doesnt matter that much. Having been a captain in hockey or alternate many times it honestly doesnt really matter a whole lot. 

With football idk it seems like anyone can talk to the ref really, most of the ref's know most of the top flight players seemingly pretty well in their respective leagues and theres never really been any issues I can recall. Just more of a traditional thing or symbolic thing more then anything now imo. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Spike said:

tbh a leader will lead a group regardless of a piece of elastic and captaincies are largely ceremonial for the sake of ego. Very few sports actually delegate responsibility to the captain and the only one I can think of is cricket.

I think this is true, but it does seem to matter to some players who the captain is. So my answer is "sort of" but since that isn't an option on the poll I'm voting 'don't care'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Subscriber

I really think in football nowadays a captain is as much about the optics as anything. They haven't got an important role like in cricket.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we got relegated last season having had seven different ones during the season though - the majority of whom didn't even want to be here. To me it's kind of a statement, a reward almost for somebody who earned it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Subscriber

Well, I chose yes but when you look at the situation we had at United where one minute Bruno was our captain in a match and the prick Maguire who was the captain given by Ole the little gnome was a sub would come on and Bruno would hand the captains arm band over to him, that was utter shite as he could not captain rats on a sinking ship.

But I do think you need a leader on the pitch, when you look at the likes of Roy Keane when he was captain at United the players listened to him and he would soon lash out at them if they did wrong during a game and he always gave a 100% when he was playing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

Yeah there is. I think it's good to have a captain to be assertive and set an example amongst the squad. Someone reliable who the referees or officials or managers can go to and communicate with on a different level. 

But I think there should be more than one leader on the pitch. When you look at all the successful squads or iconic teams, they had leaders all over the pitch. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Subscriber

To me it's not as simple as saying someone is a captain and that's the end of it. These appointments are merely just formalities. When it comes down to game-time players have to all step up and watch out of each other. The modern game really has no true place for traditional captaincy on the pitch. Off the pitch is a whole different story.

I remember Peter Crouch once had a conversation with another footballer, the name eludes me as does the face, but they talked a lot about off-pitch activities like ensuring players understood the team mentality, match day ticket allocations and gathering who all wanted their friends and family to attend, etc. and that was where having a captain was mostly important. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Role of captain has diminished in cricket a bit also. Gone are the days when coaches were confined to dressing rooms during the match and most people didn't even knew who was the coach.

Depending upon the personality types the coach can be more assertive than the captain. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Subscriber

I think there's less of a point in the 'modern game' compared to how it was when you had the likes of Roy Keane as your captain. There is still a point as it's that one figurehead of the team who acts almost as the second manager/coach on the pitch. They are there to lead the rest of the 10 players and pass on messages and motivate them. Gerrard in the 2005 Champions League Final is a good example of this - he spurred the team on to that comeback. Where it becomes less of a thing is when you are chopping and changing or your captain is not suitable (see Maguire at United) - it should be given to a natural leader within the team, or somebody with an affinity or connection to the club like a player who's come through the ranks or an experienced player. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Subscriber

All great managers who were successful over the years with their respective clubs made sure they would pick a player in their eyes that could lead a side where the players looked up to them and they produced the goods and won trophies for the clubs.

When you look at SAF at United he had Robson, Bruce, Cantona, Keane, G Neville, and Vidic as captains and Liverpool under Bob Paisley had Hughes, Thompson, Souness, Neal, and Hansen as captains and they all played successful captains jobs and United & Liverpool won League titles, domestic cups and European cups etc.

So really you need a good manager who has the insight of picking a good captain who will relay his thoughts to the team he picks and win the trophies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Stan said:

Yeah there is. I think it's good to have a captain to be assertive and set an example amongst the squad. Someone reliable who the referees or officials or managers can go to and communicate with on a different level. 

But I think there should be more than one leader on the pitch. When you look at all the successful squads or iconic teams, they had leaders all over the pitch. 

but you voted yes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Beelzebub said:

Role of captain has diminished in cricket a bit also. Gone are the days when coaches were confined to dressing rooms during the match and most people didn't even knew who was the coach.

Depending upon the personality types the coach can be more assertive than the captain. 

I can name one coach in cricket, and that is Brendan McCullum. He never shuts up and loves the attention. I know the last name of Australia’s coach but I know little of him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Sign up or subscribe to remove this ad.


×
×
  • Create New...