Not according to a teammate of his, who told me he's still not able to speak English, but also was told not to translate for him on the pitch as he's aware it looks bad.
A lot of people might suggest that a captain needs to be more than that if the team is to improve. Look at the line of captains we had with all the required qualities of leadership in Ferguson's era and before and tell me it's not being missed in the present.
He must just nod, as he can’t even say yes in English.
I suspect he does speak some English in private (wasn't it LVG who said he had to have lessons as he said it was ridiculous for someone to have lived in this country for so many years and not learn the language?) but anyway, he certainly never gives interviews in English. Also, you rarely see him talking to the referee. I know that Rooney was a bit over the top with having a go at the ref but surely we need some sort of happy medium in terms of communications with the ref.
Actually, last year he was captain, he talked with the referee quite a lot. These two reddit posts are accurate I think:
Smart decision. One of the hardest working, most experienced and most regular players gets captaincy and other players get put in their place.
Conformation bias. There are many examples otherwise. Hugo Lloris just captained France to the World Cup, whilst making a massive mistake in the final.
Hasn’t worked hard on his crossing has he? He shouldn’t even be near the first team let alone captain.
I feel like you missed my point entirely. Also, what is a captain if not an extension of the manager on the pitch?
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.
Carrick was captain last year and made 5 appearances.
Think that's true to be fair. At least since he's been at United it seems like that.
We know that we're pretty shite at the moment and look like we desperately need motivation and change.
And why aren't people without armbands allowed to provide that? Does the armband give you some special power or something?
Did Valencia provide it without the armband?
What a stupid leap to make.
This is also a stupid leap.
Oh god, what are we, Wigan?
Not really. You literally say yourself "average full back smashing crosses in to defenders' thighs". He's a good full back, but because he's not a buccaneering attacking maestro people call him shite. It's very very easy to see all over this site, so "stupid leap" it ain't. Read any of the Valencia threads, read any match day thread from the second half of last season.
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.
Those two post are just random people's opinions and theories based on hopes and wishes and a bit of watching him on TV. As I said above, someone who plays with the guy week in, week out told me last December that he still can't speak English. If he's mastered the language since then, well, fair play to him.
Pogba or Matic
Don't let facts get in the way of his never ending moaning about everything Manchester United.
