Captaincy Suggestions

Captaincy Suggestions

  • De Gea

    Votes: 127 29.3%
  • Lindelof

    Votes: 216 49.8%
  • Young

    Votes: 26 6.0%
  • Mata

    Votes: 28 6.5%
  • Smalling

    Votes: 37 8.5%

  • Total voters
    434

DoomSlayer

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Rooney was made captain after courting Manchester City.
For like what, a total of 5 days before signing a new contract and apologising to Sir Alex and the whole squad? And for what is worth, the City link was all paper talk, neither Sir Alex nor anyone else from the club confirmed that,

On the other hand, Guardiola said that he was offered Pogba last year after our 3-2 win in the derby. If it was BS, Mourinho would have ripped him apart from trying to destabalise the club, but he was just smirking when asked about Pep's comments, so he probably knew about that already and right around then, Jose and Pogba had the fallout. The Frenchman started to get dropped in some games and was obviously downing tools.

Finally, we are talking about Wayne fecking Rooney, our all-time top goalscorer and if I can make a bet, he probably is in top 3 (he is actually 2nd behind Giggs for the PL only) for number of assists in history. Phenomenal player and legend of the club. Pogba hasn't even proved himself properly yet at United, whilst acting very disrespectful. The only way I can forgive him if he stays is to see him give 200% for the shirt and stop with the self-entitled attitude he regularly has on the field.
 

sullydnl

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What do people see in De Gea to give him the armband ? Great performance aside, he'll be a pretty bland captain to have.
Nothing about De Gea's personality suggests he'd be a natural captain choice. However, he is a guaranteed starter, experienced and (when playing well) one of our best players. Unfortunately that is current enough to make someone seemingly unsuited to being captain one of our most obvious captain picks.
 

DWelbz19

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Lindelof has that many votes? I knew he was flavour of the week and all, but blimey.
 

3KDré

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Lindelof has that many votes? I knew he was flavour of the week and all, but blimey.
I think De Gea will begin to decline more rapidly soon. Mata, Young and Smalling should be backups at most. That leaves Lindelof. Out of all these players he is second most vocal behind Young on the pitch and most likely to be here in the long term. It makes sense.

Not that I think he'd be a good captain by the way.
 

sullydnl

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Pogba should be our captain.

The club has him as poster-boy, but show no ambition and surround him with dross such as Lingard, etc., so I can understand why he wants to leave. Even Rooney wanted to leave at one point because our club didn’t show enough ambition, yet he went on to be our captain.
Rooney had by that point contributed many, many, many multiples more to the club than Pogba has. It's not exactly comparing like for like.
 

sullydnl

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Looking at those poll options, I'm reminded of Roy Keane's "When Kieran Gibbs is captain, you're in big trouble" comment.
 

DoomSlayer

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Rooney had by that point contributed many, many, many multiples more to the club than Pogba has. It's not exactly comparing like for like.
Top-goalscorer for Manchester United of all time, 2nd behind Giggs in number of assists (in the PL, he might even have the most overall but stats are hard to find). Absolute legend and there is no comparison that can be made involving Pogba's situation.
 

Snow

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I don't know what it means to be a captain anymore so it's not for me to suggest who should wear the armband.
 

manunited1919

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Rooney had by that point contributed many, many, many multiples more to the club than Pogba has. It's not exactly comparing like for like.
True. But still, we need to keep Pogba and show some ambition by bringing in quality players.
 

sullydnl

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I mean, it's no surprise we're shit when you start thinking about this is it?
It's as telling a measure of our decline as any.

Especially when you consider that at the start of this decade we had Van Der Sar, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Rooney, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher and Valencia all in the same squad. Forget how many of them could have been captains, how many of them were captains?
 

Tomuś

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Wait, why isn't there Pogba on the list? I thought he was the leader®.
 

KiD MoYeS

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Easiest is probably to give Young the club captaincy and have De Gea vice-captain and wearing the armband every week with Young on the bench. De Gea might be tempted to stick around with the armband but he hasn't been given the club captaincy if he does leave for nothing. But what do I know?
 

VeevaVee

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It's as telling a measure of our decline as any.

Especially when you consider that at the start of this decade we had Van Der Sar, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Rooney, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher and Valencia all in the same squad. Forget how many of them could have been captains, how many of them were captains?
:(
 

JMack1234

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Lindelof is the only decent candidate that we know is going to be here for multiple seasons and is going to play.

Young won't play much and will be off at the end of the season.
De Gea hasn't signed a contract and has tried to leave a few times now
Mata will be a squad player at best and his legs are going at a rate of knots now
Smalling will be 3rd choice if we sign a new CB
Pogba has a transfer circus around him and is desperate to leave.
 

KiD MoYeS

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Lindelof is the only decent candidate that we know is going to be here for multiple seasons and is going to play.
Are we confident of this with his agent coming out today with what he said and the rumoured Barça interest at the start of the window?
 

Wednesday at Stoke

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WTF? Gary Neville? Vidic? And they're the ones who were officially named as club captain. The likes of Giggs and Ferdinand also often donned the armband. I'd put all of those ahead of Rooney
Neville was playing around 20 something games when he got the arm band. Vidic had a good first season as captain and then played 6 league games the next season and 22 the season after.
 

Silas

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Er when did Lindelöf become a leader? Because of that clip of him clapping one time?
 

VP89

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Er when did Lindelöf become a leader? Because of that clip of him clapping one time?
If you pay careful attention to him during the matches you'll find he exhibits a lot of leadership qualities. From the games I've seen live I've always seen him loudly communicating with all players on the pitch, he's not afraid to get stuck in and generally makes everyone aware of the position he's covering.

Then I recall a match we were getting thumped in (Huddersfield or Everton), and he was the only one running up to each player to have a word after conceding, to raise their spirits and get them focused before kick off. Meanwhile other big name players had hands on hips. There are actually lots of examples of Lindelof exhibiting leadership qualities if you watch him carefully. Jose Mourinho also mentioned he was drawn to Victor's mentality as a player if I'm not mistaken. We can shit on Jose all we want for his style of play but the man knows a leader when he see's one.
 

Red Keane

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Looking at that list shows why letting go of Herrera was a dumb mistake to make...

Anyway, out of those listed I just feel that none of them deserve the armband at this moment quite frankly. I mean De Gea & Lindelof (maybe in a few years once he has ironed out his mistakes, but not now) have yet to show the leadership qualities to justify the armband, Mata is not a long-term option and as for both Young & Smalling, they should not even be playing for the club let along wearing the armband.

Rather (assuming he does come to the club), I would just give it to Maguire (or at least give him the Vice-Captancy/de facto Captancy with Mata becoming the "official" Captain) considering the fact he has shown more leadership qualities in his footballing career than any of the players listed. Likewise it also shows that United need to go all out for De Ligt as well (Both to allow for Smalling, Rojo and Jones to forced out of the club, as well as provide another potential option for the armband).

And yes I know the cost of getting those two would run close to £200 million, but I would rather address the Defence/Captancy issues above all else before we deal with the other squad issues the club seems to be filling up with...
 

stepic

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People suggesting Rashford :lol:

The guy is a personality vacuum, immature and selfish. He is the epitome of what doesn’t make a good leader. He’s only made less immature because he’s mates with Lingard who is even worse.
 

Tiber

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De Gea (assuming he signs a deal) is head and shoulders above other candidates

Depressingly it will be young
 

KetilOwren88

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Matic should have been a strong candidate and we really need him to step up this season. The problem is that he doesn’t strike me as the type. Because of our lack of natural leaders and big characters, I would go with another type. Mata with all his flaws is an excellent rolemodel and professional with much experience. I also think he is a human being that both players and staff can communicate with. He won’t play that much but he can still be the club captain. Honestly I don’t care that much though. We need a new group of players with another culture and mentality and it all starts with the manager and the staff. One man alone cannot change that. You don’t need an armband to stamp your mark in a team.
 
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hobbers

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De Gea but only if he signs a new contract. Until that point, Lindelof is the only valid candidate. Obviously he won't get the captaincy though, because that would mean someone would actually have to make an intelligent footballing decision at the club for once.

Nah we'll probs give it to Young/Matic and continue the genius tradition of having club captains who never perform/never even kick a ball for us during the season.
 

OleGunnar20

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Surprised to see Lindelof with the most votes, doesn't seem the type to me. In fact I worry it'd lead to worse performances, similar to Valencia being given the #7. Really does show how lacking we are in personality at the moment, I'd say that's even more of a pressing issue at the club than the lack of technical quality (Which of course is also massive).

We need leaders, strong personalities across the team. Pronto.
 

SwedishFish

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Surprised to see Lindelof with the most votes, doesn't seem the type to me. In fact I worry it'd lead to worse performances, similar to Valencia being given the #7. Really does show how lacking we are in personality at the moment, I'd say that's even more of a pressing issue at the club than the lack of technical quality (Which of course is also massive).

We need leaders, strong personalities across the team. Pronto.
He's a vocal player on the pitch. That's the sort of players you want to be captain really.

Valencia didn't even speak english at the time. Quite the difference if you ask me.
 

OleGunnar20

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He's a vocal player on the pitch. That's the sort of players you want to be captain really.

Valencia didn't even speak english at the time. Quite the difference if you ask me.
That's fair. He had a comparatively good year last year and like you say, does seem to be pretty vocal.

I guess I'm clinging to the standards of the past a little here, but I see a fitting captain as being the Bruce, Robson, Keane, even Rooney types. Players who play with a bit of fire, demand respect from those around them. Herrera would have been my choice had he stayed, he was far and away the best candidate in my opinion.

Lindelof to me is still a little passive, I don't think he really imposes himself on the pitch just yet. Now he did come on a lot last year so for sure, if he adds a bit of that to his game then I'd maybe see him as a good candidate. Right now though, I think it's too soon for him.

The comparison with Valencia was less about communication and more about mentality. I don't see Lindelof as being rock solid just yet, and wouldn't want to burden a growing player with that responsibility.

All opinion of course. One thing for sure is that there's no stand out candidate at the club as things stand, which is pretty concerning.
 

Sky1981

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Pogba : isnt committed. Constantly wanting away

De gea : same as above although he's more professional

Young smailing mata jones : our deadwood avengers.

Lindeloff : seems logical, but will the posh boys in the dressing room accepts this appointment? It's hard to command respect without that natural bravery. Im afraid any sort of hard scruffed leader will be ostracized by our posh boys
 

Manoucha09

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If his agent can keep his gob shut and he decides to knuckle down, Pogba would seem the natural choice. Academy product who has a strong personality. It's just a shame he often seems to be sulking and complaining about others. To be fair, I think any world class player would complain playing the way we were under Mourinho and towards the end of the season under Ole.

Till then, Young has got to be the automatic choice. I hope he doesn't play anywhere near as much next season but he definitely should be the permanent captain in my opinion.

On the pitch, should they still be here, I'd go:

1. Pogba
2. De Gea
3. Lindelof
4. Smalling

In that order. Quietly hoping we can sign a captain material central defender to replace Smalling on that list.
 

RedRonaldo

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In terms of hierarchy, it should be Young, Smalling and then De Gea
But if Pogba stays, I reckon Ole would give him captaincy.
 

AUnitedOpinion

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It will be Young whenever he plays. DDG should be vice if he signs a new deal. If not, will be Smalling I’d guess.
If we give it to Smalling it is just admitting that he will be a starter most of the time and we can't let that be the case.