WHY KANE IS THE PERFECT MAN TO LEAD ENGLAND
Harry Kane is the very best man to lead england’s World Cup campaign. There is no doubt in my mind about Harry’s suitability for the most important job in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
He is the outstanding candidate, though to some degree a controversial choice because it has sidelined such a fine player in Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson.
But decisions have to be made and Gareth has made his, as I did when I gave Tony adams the honour instead of the incumbent David Platt for euro 96.
In truth, none of us can be certain if Harry will fit seamlessly into the role or how quickly that will take him. There is no time for work experience. It will be sink or swim.
The importance of the captaincy as the on-field voice of the manager is too often undervalued by people who should know better. Harry, and Harry alone, is the communicator — the crucial link between Gareth and the players.
There are those who will dismiss the appointment of a captain, particularly at international level, as simply a job to be filled when it is second only to the manager’s in terms of importance.
It is an argument almost as out of touch as the one which says you can’t make a captain out of a striker and that only defenders looking forward not a striker looking back can ‘see’ a game.
Gareth will have put considerable thought into the captaincy. He will have called Harry to his office, discussed every aspect of the role and asked him if he feels he can do it. He will also have asked if he can take the pressure of being his man on-field without it reducing in any way his own game as england’s top goalscorer.
There will be a rapport between them, that’s obvious. you must like and respect each other.
What you are looking for in your captain is a thinking man who understands what you want from each player and can deal with situations as they occur during a match. as national coach you should have spent hours talking to your captain, going over every detail of every player and what everyone’s specific job is.
I am amused when I see Jose Mourinho and antonio Conte screaming and shouting on the line, apparently giving orders that will not be heard in the frantic atmospheres of Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, but which in any case the captain will be well aware of and dealing with.
Can you imagine adams at arsenal and as my captain with england, or Graeme Souness at Liverpool, waiting on instructions from the touchline.
no, they were proactive players who would know what to do on the spot when it was out of the manager’s hands. The captain is the power on the field — the key man.
When I am asked if it is going to be too great a gamble appointing a forward, a striker no less, my reply is — remember Johan Cruyff. The Dutchman was the example for all of us in the game after he joined forces with coach rinus Michels at ajax in 1965.
IAM a big admirer and have been since the beginning of Johan’s career, when it became obvious he was the special one working with rinus. They transformed the Dutch game from so- so to the world’s best in just a few years. It was sheer genius. I studied his technique, watched their matches with ajax and Holland, and met Johan. We became friends and he eventually took over at Barcelona, where I had been in charge a few years previously.
Johan was a master footballer, a master tactician, a master coach who had no time for convention or ever feared radically changing the way the game should be played.
His approach appealed to me. It highlighted the relationship between manager and his chosen captain, how important it is, how successful it can be. He was the ultimate communicator who did not hang about when it came to giving orders on or off the pitch.
He was very vocal, arrogant, uncompromising, difficult for rinus to deal with when his mind was set, but he knew what was wanted and what he demanded would have to be obeyed. Johan was a forward who saw everything before it happened and could play anywhere, the Dutch way, the Total Football way.
Bobby Moore was another captain who knew where to be at the right moment as a defender or moving forward. We used to ask, ‘Will he be quick enough?’, then, ‘Oh! He’s already there’.
Diego Maradona exploited his talent as a captain in a different way. nobody would argue with him as the key player, the heart of the team from which everything flowed. He scored goals of such quality he was untouchable — to the team he was the main man.
Cruyff, Maradona and Bobby were all brilliantly equipped and, like others I have encountered, possessed a presence that set them apart.
Kane has proved himself to be a player with power and physical presence, a man not afraid to be heard as england’s key man. That will be to england’s advantage. Terry Venables was talking to Alex Montgomery