Wenger: Role of captain overplayed
442 Staff - Friday 05 February 2010, 15:18
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes that the role of captain in English football is overplayed, and is not as crucial a position as the
public and media make out.
The Frenchman was speaking following an onslaught of reports
surrounding the future of England captain John Terry, whose position has
been called into question following allegations of an affair with the
former partner of Manchester City full-back Wayne Bridge.
The Chelsea skipper held showdown talks with Three Lions' boss
Fabio Capello at Wembley on Friday to decide whether he remains captain
of his country for the World Cup finals in South Africa.
But Wenger, who takes the Gunners to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to face
the table-topping Blues, insists that the collective responsibility
required in the game means that it does not really matter who wears the
armband.
"Yes it [captaincy] is overplayed, without a doubt," he said on Arsenal's official website.
"[You have to make] an instant decision in a very quick time. The
captain has no time to interfere with the individual decisions of the
players on the pitch.
"Maybe it has historical roots in battles and fighting. Certainly the
captain had always traditionally in the history of England, a big role
and a big importance.
"I like that, but team sport is linked
with recent history, the 20th Century. Before you had no team sport, it
turned up with democracy. Before that, it was all fighting, and so
maybe it is linked with historical roots."
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