And I will simply say to that, look at all the 'players' we had with leadership qualities in those teams. Also the common denominator there was clearly Ferguson. Bryan Robson was the captain when Atkinson was in charge and I don't remember us winning any league titles then either.
This team is lacking in leaders full stop.
The fact that it was clearly something that Ferguson thought was important probably had something to do with why many of us here feel the same way. Who are we to argue with him? The results speak for themselves.
The fact we've assembled a squad with so little perceived leadership since he left isn't a good enough reason to continue along the path of having what amount to honourary captains based on who happened to be first through the door.
Fair enough, Mourinho can't have known that Michael Carrick would develop a serious heath problem, and have such limited influence as captain last season, but surely he knew it was a short term solution at best, given his age.
For me, a captain should be a regular, the first name on the tram sheet and a player you can rely on, a great motivator and communicator, and ideally a player at or approaching their peak years. This appointment doesn't meet any of those criteria.