Is the captaincy weighing down Steven Gerrard and Vincent Kompany?
Liverpool's meeting with Manchester City this weekend should be a fascinating contest. While not anywhere significant as last season's 3-2 victory for the Reds -- one of the most exciting games in recent Premier League history -- we can at least expect an interesting tactical battle between Liverpool's counterattacking play down the flanks and City's ball retention in the centre.
One the many subplots to the game, meanwhile, concerns the form of the respective captains. Steven Gerrard and Vincent Kompany have both lifted major honours as skipper, but their status has rarely been lower. Gerrard, who may or may not be fit to play this weekend, finds himself in a sorry position outside Liverpool's best XI, with Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson the best central midfield partnership in Liverpool's new-look 3-4-3. Lucas is out, Henderson is doubtful and Gerrard is only just about ready to return from injury himself -- but should he play, he won't truly be in the side on merit alone.
The form of Kompany, meanwhile, has declined over the past couple of seasons. Constant positional errors have resulted in cheap concession of goals, with many blaming him for both of Luis Suarez's strikes in the midweek defeat to Barcelona.
Arguably, this wouldn't be such a problem outside England. No other country places such emphasis upon the armband, to the extent that foreign managers -- Fabio Capello in particular -- often seem genuinely baffled by the fuss. There are various reasons for this obsession: the English game is traditionally about courage, fight and determination rather than technical quality, and England (or Britain) is a country overly concerned with status.
There's also a tabloid-driven obsession with this kind of story not obvious elsewhere in Europe, and it's also worth considering the role of cricket, too. The captaincy in England's other major sport is a significant and valid issue, because the responsibilities of the captain are vast, and include deciding fielding positions, bowling order and even contributing to team selection. It's more akin to player-manager than mere captain, and perhaps this understandable focus upon captaincy spills over into football.
Whatever the reasons, it remains a big deal. Last year, Gary Lineker described a phone call from Graham Taylor, asking him to be the new England captain, as "without question the proudest, most thrilling moment of my career."
Traditionally, English football has two models for picking the captain. The usual approach is to select a commanding centre-back: the likes of Bobby Moore, Tony Adams and John Terry are obvious examples in terms of the national team. These players are usually vociferous organisers, motivators and natural leaders.
The alternative is becoming more common, and it's simply to select your best player. Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer fall into this category, although David Beckham is probably the best example -- rarely has a player improved so much with the armband. This is perhaps more about leading by example, and setting a technical standard for others to follow.
Kompany and Gerrard fit into these categories nicely: Kompany is the old-school solid centre-back, Gerrard the quiet but brilliant orchestrator. Interestingly, both succeeded players in the complete opposite mould, while those predecessors were still at the club: Kompany took over from Carlos Tevez, the absolute epitome of the latter category (he was hardly likely to be barking out orders considering his tenuous grasp of the English language), while Gerrard followed the inspirational Sami Hyypia. Those decisions were both very deliberate from the managers at the time, Roberto Mancini and Gerard Houllier, designed to improve the solidarity within the squad and maximise the ability of the individual concerned.
It worked both times. This is possibly the most tangible benefit of the captaincy: it encourages an individual to lift his game and reach the next level, in the manner of Beckham. Kompany was handed the armband at the start of 2011-12 and promptly turned in the best campaign of his career, heading in the season's most crucial goal (even including Sergio Aguero's last-minute strike against QPR) to defeat Manchester United 1-0 in the final weeks.
Kompany displacing Tevez was a widely popular move, especially in the City dressing room, whereas Gerrard taking over from Hyypia was a genuine shock. "When he was young, all he needed was time to mature," said then-manager Houllier. "Now he is 23 and he is ready. There has been a maturing in his game and his personality."
That was in October 2003, and while that proved to be an underwhelming season, the next campaign Gerrard reached new heights, lifted the European Cup following some talismanic displays and was voted third in the Ballon d'Or. It's difficult to say whether he, or Kompany, would have reached such levels without the armband, but it seemed to prompt a significant upturn in their form.
The downside, however, is that any failures are highlighted even more with the armband, and it's worth remembering why Hyypia, for example, was replaced. Houllier said: "I think this decision will help Sami's game, too; I think he was ready to take on too much responsibility at times." The Finnish centre-back's form suffered, but without the responsibility of the armband he enjoyed a resurgence, and was outstanding throughout that European Cup-winning campaign. Out of the limelight, he probably reached his peak. It's also worth remembering that both Gerrard and Hyypia were helped by playing alongside Jamie Carragher, possibly the most captain-esque non-captain imaginable.
In the age of large squads and competition for places, however, it's not entirely unusual for a captain to not be in his team's best XI, and with a huge media focus upon any weaknesses in a player's game, captaincy issues can be a huge problem for a club. It's difficult to say, for example, that William Gallas' tantrum at Birmingham in 2008 wasn't particularly shocking because he was supposed to be Arsenal's leader, or that John Terry's slip in the European Cup final that year or Gerrard's slip against Chelsea last season weren't highlighted more because of their captaincy.
Arsenal have had particular problems in this respect, not merely because their captains kept leaving, but because Cesc Fabregas openly showed dissent towards the club in front of other players during his final campaign, then Thomas Vermaelen spent much of his tenure as a substitute. The Belgian's programme columns became increasingly more awkward, and while no one would doubt his professionalism, every footballer wants to play matches. Therefore it would only be natural if Vermaelen were secretly hoping for a minor misfortune to befall another centre-back, allowing him back into the side. It's tough to understand how that's compatible with being a leader.
Perhaps the future is captainless. In 2008, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate considered scrapping the captaincy altogether, despite the fact that he'd been a popular and successful skipper himself. "I've looked at other sporting teams who do not have one person nominated as captain and, in some cases, it seems to have worked well," he said. "Having a club captain might make things that happen at the club away from match days less complicated. Very often, people look to the captain as an easy get-out and use him to avoid taking responsibility themselves. They assume the captain will sort everything out so they don't have to."
In addition, of course, it takes such huge responsibility away from one player. For different reasons -- and, of course, they would never say it -- both Gerrard and Kompany could currently do without the pressures of the club captaincy. The most significant consequence of being captain is simple: if you make errors, you won't be allowed to forget them.
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