ARMBAND OF BROTHERS
Boss Southgate set to rotate Three Lions captaincy
GARETH SOUTHGATE is ready to turn his back on English tradition and have a rota of captains.
After Wayne Rooney’s retirement, Southgate was expected to name a permanent skipper, but on the eve of the World Cup qualifier in Malta, he hinted it would continue to be done on an ad hoc basis right up to the finals in Russia.
Harry Kane captained the side in the last two games, but when they landed in Malta Southgate had still not told his squad who would lead out the team tonight.
He said: “I want to continue sharing that responsibility. It’s been healthy for us. We’re seeing good leaders emerging from the group.
“Developing more people who can step up and influence is far more important than putting an individual in a position where, if they’re the only one we’re looking to – and that’s been the case in the recent past – we won’t get the best out of the group.”
The suggestion that Rooney was too much of a focal point was backed up by Kyle Walker, who said: “In recent squads, we always looked up to Wayne and he took the negatives for us. I think it’s good to share it around.”
Southgate’s stance means Kane, Joe Hart, Gary Cahill and Jordan Henderson are all competing for the honour tonight.
Under FIFA regulations, Southgate has to name a captain for the World Cup finals, but can still change it on a game-by-game basis.
His approach shows he is going to be his own man as the FA – and its commercial department – is always keen to have a figurehead.
One player unlikely to be wearing the armband is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
While Oxlade-Chamberlain has gone to Liverpool hoping to become an established central midfielder, Southgate is ditching the experiment of using the former Arsenal star in that role.
England are short of quality in that area and Southgate played Oxlade-Chamberlain alongside Eric Dier in the 3-2 friendly defeat in Paris.
But Southgate is shelving that idea, saying: “No, I don’t see him there. He could play as a No.8, but we really like him as a wide player.”
Whatever line-up and captain Southgate sends out tonight will surely have far too much for a team ranked 190th in the world. If results go their way, England could qualify if they beat Malta here and Slovakia at Wembley on Monday, but the key for Southgate in the run-in is to strengthen their mentality.
He said: “That’s the key area we are building on, from our body language to our response to mistakes to how we carry ourselves.
“We are representing our country so should never look like a team who look like we’re beaten.”
They rarely do in qualifiers, having not been beaten since losing a dead rubber against Ukraine in 2009. That will not change tonight.