Just a question. It seems to me that he basically acts like the captain now. He asserts his opinions and seems to make everybody better. He takes up publicly for his teammates. He demonstrates leadership and even challenges the coach at times. He plays much more controlled in the past. He handled the awkwardness of playing for a new coach who replaced his father with much aplumb. Would it upset the apple cart too much to give it to him>
My view is that Klinsmann feels that Dempsey might benefit from having this title and used it as a man-management tactic, while always knowing that Bradley is the de facto captain, especially given his playing role, regardless of having the title. I also think Klinsmann views relative age & experience (if other factors are similar) as a determining factor.
I think the manager does see that......................but Dempsey will be the captain for the 2014 WC. And that's great. We can have a bunch of guys with great leadership characteristics on the team. Tim Howard could be captain. Landon Donovan could be captain., etc. etc. The "captain" of the national team doesn't have to be the best player (in fact rarely is) A lot of the key responsibilities of a captain are in the locker-room and away from the field that we don't get to see as fans. Bradley will be the captain post-2014.
Does it matter in the team's performances? It's an honor for the player, but materially what difference does it make to what the team is doing?
Oddly enough, US Soccer put out a stat listing all the captain's of their club teams last night. Four in total. None named Dempsey, Donovan or Bradley.
I would go Howard this time around. He's got the elder statesmen thing going and current form at a top level. Plus the defense deserves to be chewed out after every other play. They play like last night and it's going to get really ugly in our group.
The effect of a captain; well I think there are potential effects depending on how the player embraces the role. It could be minimal or non-existant, especially if a player just takes it as an hnor (and I know that happens alot). However, I can imagine a "captain" of any organization having an important role in helping a team gel; especially in a national team. I have seen it in american football, rugby, soccer, etc. Here are some interesting articles about captain selection. http://soccerlens.com/does-captaincy-decide-the-title-race/8253/ http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamCapt/CaptainIndex.html http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...893304-manchester-uniteds-6-greatest-captains http://www.sportskeeda.com/football...n-gerrard-in-his-decision-to-stay-at-anfield/ http://en.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid=52749.html
Remember, the captain is the only player technically allowed to talk to the ref. Love Mike, don't want him doing that (and I'm not so sure about Deuce in that role). By nature of his position, Mike is a leader in the XI.
That Clint Dempsey will continue to take penalties and free kicks when he is not the best by any stretch at either. That's my main problem with it. Particularly with penalties. Free kicks are rarely converted so it's not that big of a deal who takes them. With penalties, however, Dempsey taking them is a big liability. So I'm fine with him as the captain as long as someone else is designated to take penalties.
Bradley should be captain and Howard vice captain. But no way does JK yank it from Dempsey. That would cause some problems at the very least. I mean he probably shouldn't have given it to Dempsey in the beginning but probably figured Bradley (at 25) might have been too young for the task with so many vets and more likely candidates (Dempsey,Howard) around.
It's only the English that put so much esteem in the captaincy. I can't think of any other nation that sees it like they do.
Honestly, Mike's the captain right now and has been for a while, he just doesn't have the arm-band showing it to the world. This will be rectified come August or so.
MB should be the captain but normally a coach won't take it away and give it to another active player without a flagrant cause.
what is important about the captain of a team? if it is talking to refs...dempsey gotta be the pick. hes the slickest talker on the team. if it is about symbolic leadership for motivating teammates...bradley would be better. if it is about empowering players ....just let them vote on it.
Bradley is not a Captain. He is a Generalissimo Anyway, the coaches and the players know who should be captain better than we ever will, so we just have to trust them I guess.