This week, Louis van Gaal made the decision that the press had been needlessly badgering him for since he took the reins at Man United, naming his new captain. Wayne Rooney was the man given the armband and the task of succeeding the hugely successful Nemanja Vidić. A decision that would have been almost unthinkable a couple of years ago.

 

 

 

It all stems from the idea of the team captain, what we want from him and most importantly what kind of example we would like him to set. Wayne Rooney has not always set the most shining of examples when it comes to his on-field temperament or his off-field wage demands.

 

Many across the football world have been quick to question the decision. This may be an overly simplistic way of looking at the situation. But from the outside looking in it seems that Rooney is a mercenary who has held his club to ransom twice and the result of this has been two substantial pay rises and the captaincy.

 

Evidently Roy Hodgson may find himself in a similar position to Louis van Gaal. After the international retirement of Steven Gerrard Roy too is looking for his next captain and may turn to Wayne Rooney in order to fill the void. Of course no decision has been made yet and Joe Hart and Gary Cahill also seem to be in the running. But neither of them have an especially commanding presence like the captains of yesteryear. So it’s likely that Wayne will be handed the international armband to go alongside his club one.

 

But what choice did Louis van Gaal have? Or what choice does Roy Hodgson have for that matter? It’s easy to sit here and bash Wayne Rooney and suggest that he is not the ideal person to captain a side. And in truth he’s probably not ‘ideal’. Then again, anyone who suggests this can have their argument substantially weakened when they are unable to come up with a stronger candidate. And if you look amongst the ranks of England and Manchester United, suitable candidates are few and far between.

 

Cahill and Hart seem to be the only players alongside Rooney in the England discussion. United looked at Carrick, they looked at RVP, they probably looked at Darren Fletcher too but then he wouldn’t play enough games to justify the decision. Other than that, who was there to pick from? Plenty of capable players, no captains. It seems that football just doesn’t breed that ‘leader of men’ character that we always associated with the captain of a team. One man to take responsibility and drag his colleagues along with him.

 

Now relax, this isn’t the issue that we perceive it to be. Outside of England the position of captain isn’t spoken of like it is here. It’s not headline news like this story has become. The international managers of other countries aren’t asked about their captaincy in the same way that Roy Hodgson is. They choose a captain, whoever is the most suitable candidate in the squad and it’s as simple as that. No issue, no debate.

 

That’s why, this week, Louis van Gaal made a point of saying that the selection of captain is very important to him. “Well, of course it is” we all thought, why say it? Because in a lot of the places that LvG has been before, it wouldn’t go without saying like it does for us. Louis van Gaal is essentially saying that the choice of captain is important to him when it isn’t necessarily so for everyone else. That’s football culture as he knows it.

 

I’d agree with the rest of the world on this point. The issue of captain is of little importance to me. Maybe it’s never been important or maybe it was and it’s just a little bit dated now. But common sense suggests that no manager would style a winning team on one player leading the others. As has been said before, you need 11 captains on the pitch. No player should expect to get to the top of the game without already having a winning mentality. Why should they need a captain dictating this mentality to them? Every player should take their share of the responsibility.

 

So, here’s the rather abrupt summary.

 

 

Wayne Rooney probably shouldn’t captain United or England, not in an ideal world anyway. But there’s no one better so he might as well. And the position of captain is less important than we realise in any case so who cares? Good luck to him.