Gareth Southgate to break from tradition and take England to Russia 2018 without permanent captain
England look set to travel to a major international championship for the first time without a permanent captain in what would be a trailblazing break from tradition. The Three Lions have been led into all previous major tournaments by an appointed leader, including the World Cup 1966 winning skipper Bobby Moore, Terry Butcher and David Beckham.
But Gareth Southgate indicated he was considering the move after Friday’s draw for next summer’s finals, in which England were pitted against Belgium, Tunisia and Panama in the group stage.
The England manager has rotated the armband since Wayne Rooney’s international career began to wind down, using six different players as captain.
But he had been expected to appoint a permanent figurehead for Russia 2018, with the Tottenham Hotspur pair of Harry Kane and Eric Dier – who have led England out in their past four matches between them – the favourites. Southgate also raised the possibility of choosing whoever in the selected team was England’s most capped player – which would mean Joe Hart leading the side out whenever he played.
His approach is aimed at fostering increased responsibility and encouraging all players to think as a captain might. Southgate said: “I’m not averse to what the Spanish do, where the most capped player does it every game. I think Brazil do something similar.
“There have been times where having one leader is important. But I feel as if the modern world is a little bit different and the shared responsibility becomes a more important thing.
“I feel the process has been really revealing for us as a group of staff to watch, but also a good experience for the players to feel that responsibility and to share the ownership.
“Too much has fallen on, in particular, Wayne’s shoulders in the last few years. And now there’s been opportunity, even in meetings and on the training pitch, for others to step forward and make the contributions and give an opinion, which I think’s really important. They’re the guys on the field that have to make decisions.”
After Hart (75 caps), Gary Cahill (58) and Jordan Henderson (36) are the next most capped players likely to be in the World Cup squad, although it is conceivable none will make the starting line-up. That would raise the prospect of the in-form Raheem Sterling (35 caps) and the fit-again Adam Lallana (33) – who is widely regarded as crucial to England’s hopes – being chosen ahead of Kane and Dier (both 23 caps) to lead the side.
England’s Euro 2016 humiliation by Iceland was cited as evidence they have become mentally fragile at major tournaments, which the FA wants Southgate to address. Having already taken them to train with the Royal Marines ahead of June’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland, he indicated he would do something similar before the summer.
“That sort of shared hardship is a good thing to go through,” he said. “Part of our challenge in the next couple of months is what do we do in that March time, and that end-of-season period before we come to Russia, because we’ve got to keep it fresh.
“We’ve got training work where you’ve got to stimulate them, keep the energy up and the enthusiasm, so different environments would be good. But I don’t just want to go and do what we’ve done before. It’s going to be a bit different.”
