We've got talent but do we have leaders?

[Marcky411]

Firstly a team needs a captain on the field, those are FA/Fifa rules etc, so you grab any monkey and put the band on his arm because he is the most senior player, that is what Utd have done. Captaincy means nothing to Jose otherwise he would have looked for leadership in the team and have made that person captain. Reading this thread we all feel there are no real leaders in the team, as LvG said the players are all too nice to each other, no one will pick out his teammate for laziness or making stupid mistakes and that is exactly what you need in a captain and we don't have it. Zlatan when fit and if he was 5 years younger was the perfect candidate.

 

[sunama]

Nah we have enough leaders IMO. Problem is just the style not being one that aims to dominage a lot of games and make a lot of chances for us. Or team selections being too negative which results in few chances being created. This "leader" thing is BS, what leaders do City have in their squad? We have more players with that type of personality, you need it in some cases but a lot of times, the right type of players on the pitch will get the job done.

Kompany is their obvious leader.
But in midfield they have D.Silva, who drives them forward.
KDB also has lots of energy and loves to attack.

The problem we have is if we are losing by one goal, the penny doesn't seem to drop, in the heads of our players.
When we go 2 goals down, they definitely get the message.
It also doesn't help that in many games, we start the match, half asleep. The best example of this was against Spurs, when we conceded in under 15 seconds (I think it was).
The leader needs to fire up our players, in the tunnel itself. Wake them up and say, "lads, we are starting a match and we have to turn up from minute 1".

 

[Kostov]

We do lack leaders, Ander Herrera and Pogba were potential captains before this season. However you look at it, that's underwhelming. I personally felt Pogba would thrive and take more responsibility if made captain, but after his new year collapse I'm not sure what I was thinking. DDG, Matic, Bailly and Lukaku emerge as good strong characters but I'm not sure it's enough.

 

[simplyared]

Out of the present squad, difficult to find the leader with the required qualities in every department. Cannot understand Ibra's name constantly cropping up. He's no leader for me!
A leader for me sends a message to the rest of the team through the way he puts himself about on the pitch and through his level of competence. Also a good leader knows how far he can go disciplinary-wise in dealing with referees and so on. Ibra would fail on just these aspects. The likes of John Terry and Vincent Company have these qualities and are role models as leaders. Seeing Company rising above our defence and smashing in headers in derby games against us is painful but sums up what I'm trying to put forward. Lascelles at Newcastle is also a good example of a modern day player who has these qualities.

 

[MUFC OK]

Leaders in the traditional sense a la Keane, Vieira, Terry, Gerrard, Lampard etc are a rare breed in the modern era. At the top 6 clubs for example the only leaders I can think of in that vein are Kompany and Alderweireld (possibly).

There are plenty of players who lead by example though which is probably more the norm these days David Silva, Otamendi, Dembele, Azpilicueta, VVD, Monreal, Kane etc, I have probably missed a few and in that bracket I would place DDG, Valencia and Matic.

I would like us to sign Malikovic Savic as he looks to me like a potential leader in the natural sense.

 

[Sing you a song]

Last year Zlatan was the leader on the pitch and in the dressing room,we have really missed his personality.
How on earth Valencia the silent man can be captain is beyond me.
I thought Pogba would emerge to be the natural leader on the pitch but no chance of that now.
Matic is the obvious candidate and should be given the role immediately and when not playing it should be Lukaku they are the only 2 outfield players that are certain starters and they both show drive and commitment