Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood believes that Harry Kane should be appointed the England captain on a permanent basis after Gareth Southgate revealed he planned to continue sharing the armband.
Since Wayne Rooney’s retirement from international football, England boss Southgate has rotated the responsibility between six players, and he has said this week that he plans to continue doing so.
As quoted by Talksport, Southgate said: “There’s no doubt at times, for any captain, where it detracts from your personal performance because you’ve got to give yourself for the club and for everything, really. So, [I have been] trying to give people some experience of leadership, trying to share the responsibility.”
Former Tottenham manager turned TV pundit Sherwood believes however that Kane has the leadership qualities to take on the top honour of leading England on a permanent basis.
Speaking on Sky Sports‘ The Debate, Sherwood said: “Captains generally play the majority of the games, and you are not judged on how you perform, it is how you make others react around you. I think Harry Kane is a leader. He has always been a leader since he was a kid. If he is not playing particularly well, he will try and affect others around him. I think that is what captains need to be able to do.
OPINION
This is an interesting debate. On one hand, you can see what Southgate is trying to do. There has always been a culture of high pressure on the England side, and particularly the captain, and he is trying to alleviate that. In many ways you can see this tactic working, as it will help players to focus on other things. It is a nice evolution from the norm, and it is illustrative of the changes that Southgate is attempting to make in the England set-up. However, the prospect of there not being a regular captain also throws up a lot of uncertainty. There is no regularity for the players, and it adds another unknown into the mix. When there is someone like Kane around, who is a clear leader, maybe it is best to give him the armband on a permanent basis, and allow the other players to focus on their football a bit more.