LONDON • About a decade ago, The Wall Street Journal writer Sam Walker had the idea of trying to identify the most objectively great teams in sporting history, and seeing if he could discern any common traits.
He found they all shared a single characteristic - for every team, the duration of their success coincided with the lifespan of a captain, who could elevate a team to perform beyond the level of their natural ability, from Hungary's Ferenc Puskas to Carles Puyol of Barcelona.
In short, he theorised the one thing the greatest teams have in common is great player leadership.
Walker's findings provide an interesting counterpoint to an inconspicuous but intriguing trend of this Premier League season.
At many teams, the club captain has been an impermanent or peripheral figure.
Gary Cahill has barely played for Chelsea, likewise, Everton's Phil Jagielka, and Southampton's Steven Davis, now on loan to Rangers.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
You don't always need vocal captains... You can lead by example as a creative player. If the likes of Hazard or Silva are picked as captains, for me, that's a sign that those guys should be able to inspire the team.
NIGEL WINTERBURN, former Arsenal defender, on how individualistic attacking players can break the archetype of the vocal and defensive captain.
Manchester United's Antonio Valencia and Manchester City's Vincent Kompany have started five and six league games respectively.
Seven clubs (Arsenal, the Toffees, Fulham, City, United, Newcastle and the Saints) have had four or more captains this term.
All of which begs a question: Is the ever-present, totemic captain an endangered species? And does it matter?
The first thing to point out is that there does not appear to be an obvious correlation between consistency of captain and success based on the small sample of this league season.
City do not appear to have suffered for rotating the armband.
In fact, it is easy to disparage the importance attached to captaincy as old-fashioned - a peculiarly English hang-up.
When pundits - usually from the generations of retired former players - bemoan the lack of leaders in modern football, it feels like they are often harking back to that monolithic figure of English folklore.
The blood-soaked Terry Butcher, or Captain Marvel Bryan Robson, or John Terry or Tony Adams shouting and pointing fingers.
But Nigel Winterburn, who played under Adams at Arsenal, says that the presence of an old-school skipper in the ranks was not something he or his teammates considered a particularly important factor in their success.
"It didn't give us anything extra," the former England defender says.
"I never really worried who was captain, it didn't interest me."
When Winterburn moved to West Ham, the captaincy was less consistent unlike at Highbury, yet he "didn't personally notice the difference".
Is the lionisation of a single captain out of step with the reality of modern football then, a prehistoric obsession in an era of advanced analytics and player rotation?
As Michael Cox pointed out in an article for ESPN on Arsenal's perceived lack of leaders in 2016, every generation thinks it had better leaders.
As early as 1938, then Gunners boss Herbert Chapman was lamenting: "Football today lacks the personalities of 20 or 30 years ago."
A lack of leadership is often a retrofitted criticism applied to underperforming teams, while teams that succeed, despite lacking archetypal leaders, escape censure.
However, it would be wrong to say the idea of captaincy is something that is incompatible with the analytical side of modern football.
It is possible that the cult of the captain has seemingly declined in parallel with the rise of the cult of the coach.
The advent of meticulous micromanagers such as City's Pep Guardiola and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, whose coaching depends in large part on intensively rehearsing movements and systems, ensures their teams are never unsure of what to do in any phase of the game.
It seems there has also been a change in the type of player considered for the captaincy.
In the past, that office was usually the preserve of vocal, charismatic, defensive players.
But a new breed of captain has begun to emerge. This season, Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, David Silva at City and Fulham's Tom Cairney have worn the armband in the league.
These are all attacking players, most of the individualistic variety, none especially loud.
But Winterburn, who was captained by Joe Cole in his final season at West Ham, believes they can do the job.
"You don't always need vocal captains," he says. "You can lead by example as a creative player. If the likes of (Chelsea's Eden) Hazard or Silva are picked as captains, for me, that's a sign that those guys should be able to inspire the team."
While Winterburn still prefers the single-captain model, he adds, "There should be 11 captains out there."
It seems that is the way we are heading but by rotating the captaincy, are you multiplying leadership or spreading it more thinly?
Therein lies the paradox - with 59 players and counting having skippered a league team this season, is captaincy in decline? Or is it in fashion?
THE TIMES, LONDON
SINGAPORE: Our Tampines Hub (OTH) will screen the Champions League showdown between football clubs Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday morning (Jun 2). The free live screening will be held
Our Tampines Hub a hotbed of passion as football fans throng
We are now able to confirm the ticketing process for our live screening of the UEFA Champions League Final being held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 1 June. As previously communicated, we shall be opening the stadium to full capacity with all tickets for this event priced at £10 for
Free live screenings of Champions League final, Football News
Football: Guardiola expects De Bruyne to miss derby after
FA Cup: Pep Guardiola expects Man City to suffer in tricky trip to Newport - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola predicts his side will "suffer" against fourth-tier Newport County in their FA Cup fifth round match on Saturday but has urged his players to adapt to a battered playing surface at Rodney Parade.
Soccer: Guardiola expects Man City to suffer in tricky trip
MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish court on Wednesday (April 24) acquitted former Barcelona club president Sandro Rosell, who spent nearly two years in pre-trial custody, of money laundering.. Read more at
Spain court acquits former Barcelona president of money
Manchester City celebrated their domestic treble with an open-top bus parade on Monday, drawing an estimated 100,000 fans to the streets of the city centre. Pep Guardiola's City side became the
Treble winners Manchester City enjoy parade | football
Alexandre Lacazette was sent off as Arsenal suffered an embarrassing defeat to BATE Borisov in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 clash in Belarus. See how the action unfolded with
Updated: Chelsea edge out Malmo as Arsenal suffer Europa
Crystal Palace climb away from trouble with 3-1 win at Burnley March 2, 2019 UD Sports Comments Off on Crystal Palace climb away from trouble with 3-1 win at Burnley Burnley (UK) - Crystal Palace moved further away from the Premier League relegation zone with a 3-1 win at fellow strugglers Burnley on Saturday.
Crystal Palace climb away from trouble with 3-1 win at Burnley
Angry Messi says son questions why Argentines criticize him Soccer / 29 March 2019, 8:00pm / Lionel Messi says he struggles to handle the criticism when it comes to playing for the national team.
Angry Messi says son questions why Argentines criticise him
Football: Manchester City retain Premier League title after 4
PORTO (Reuters) - AS Roma's dramatic Champions League elimination by Porto, thanks to a late penalty awarded with a VAR review, was a "terrible way to go out", PARIS (Reuters) - Manchester
Champions League: FC Porto Go Through With Extra Time VAR
LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Premier League leaders Manchester City recovered from two goals down to beat Championship side Swansea City 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday to progress to the
Football: Man City come from two goals down to reach FA Cup
Football: Singaporean coach Akbar Nawas is I-League's best coach as champions Chennai City sweep awards - The Straits Times; Singaporean, 36, died in Bintan while on diving course; Huawei P30 Series Singapore Launch Event - VivoCity 6 April 2019 - Geek Culture; Singaporean, 36, died in Bintan while on diving course - The Straits Times
Singapore Football News from Singapore, Latest Singapore
news.trendingnews.co.in/singapore/singapore-football
Football: Singaporean coach Akbar Nawas is I-League's best coach as champions Chennai City sweep awards The Straits Times. SINGAPORE - Singaporean Akbar Nawas has been named the I-League's best coach after leading Chennai City to their first title earlier this month.. Read more
Pedro News from Singapore, Latest Pedro News from Singapore
news.trendingnews.co.in/singapore/pedro
Get the Pedro News from Singapore, Latest Pedro News from Singapore, Trending Pedro News from Singapore, Current Pedro News From Singapore on trendingnews.co.in. Grab exclusive coverage on breaking national news, current politics, regional and educational news with trending now, most popular from Singapore.
SJFI - Sports Journalists Federation Of India
sjfi.in
At the post-match conference, Akbar Nawas, head coach of Chennai City, cut a delighted figure. He began the conference by praising his goalkeeper Boerchio for a stunning performance. "He has been performing very well for our last couple of games. He has been coming into the picture very well. As you know he just joined us recently.
Frederick County Virginia
frederickcountyvirginia.cf/Oconto_County-Wisconsin/Oconto_County-Wisconsin_uky.php
Frederick County | Virginia. Oconto County Wisconsin; Day County South Dakota; Netherlands Mook en Middelaar
What Zlatan Ibrahimovic told Jose Mourinho ahead of leaving Manchester United. The Swedish striker swapped Manchester for Los Angeles in March, having struggled at Old Trafford following a serious
Manchester United striking crisis forces Jose Mourinho to
preview.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/manchester-united-team-news-revealed-vs-chelsea-a7626431.html
Jose Mourinho has the mother of all striking headaches that could force him into playing Marouane Fellaini up front against Chelsea. Mourinho is without no fewer than four of his first choice forwards with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all missing for Manchester United's trip to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea 4-0 Tottenham: Mourinho's march towards the title
Football. LONDON — Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi says he will miss the rest of the season after suffering a ruptured Achilles in Monday's 2-2 draw against Burnley. Hudson-Odoi limped off helped by two members of Chelsea's medical staff after sustaining the injury in the first half of the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea to be without Callum Hudson-Odoi for rest of season
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen