Greatest Captains of All-Time: who are they? The goal is to rank them in terms of tiers. Maybe platinum, gold, silver, bronze. Talking about players rated specifically for the captianship and leadership qualities rather than technical abilities. For example, Messi is often considered a top 2 player of all time, yet is unlikely to make most lists for greatest captains ever. Same with Pele, Cristiano, and a number of great players. A great captain is a player who: - commands respect - exerts authority on the pitch and off - is an extension of the manager on the pitch, organizing the team - is a rallying point in difficult moments, inspiring teammates to raise their level - will sacrifice themselves and put their bodies on the line for their teammates - successfully helps manage egos and personalities in a locker room - embodies the spirit of the team Of course there are different leadership styles. Roy Keane is not the same kind of leader as Javier Zanetti. Different approaches. A few example archetypal leaders and where I might place them to get the discussion going. Platinum: Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Franz Beckenbauer Gold: Javier Zanetti, Roy Keane, Carlos Puyol, Steven Gerrard Silver: John Terry (controversy), Phillip Lahm, Cafu, Vincent Kompany Bronze: Iker Casillas, Alessandro Del Piero, Raul Gonzalez Of course there are many more great captains to rank...
In this interview, at 24:29 (subtitles available), Willy Sagnol cites Stefan Effenberg as the best captain he ever had : They talk a bit about the character off the pitch and also on the pitch "but as a captain he had the best caracter towards his troops, amongst those I played with... ", "he had the best speech, to stay focus if we were in a good phase or finding the right words to get out of a bad situation". /// /// Otherwise, I would have Platini as well ("platinium" of course) and very high, and also Deschamps as Babaorum said but also I want to cite who I am strongly tinking of, who are Sylvain Kastendeuch of FC Metz ("libero exemplaire") and Henri Michel of FC Nantes who was a role-model for the whole league actually with his technique and charisma. In '76, there is that relay handover of course between the two Michel with that free-kick against Czechoslovakia, although Henri Michel stood a leader by the example at the World Cup (in spite of the early exit). At least, he shown to be the most constant player of the team there, in my opinion. A reference. Just too bad that France did not play anything between '66 and '78. He did not have much allies as a NT coach too, after his playing career. It's really a pity how his legend was degraded (or never really solidified to start with, not outside of the French football circle). He has his golden statue at Nantes since his death tho, it's true. And it's a well-made one (resembling enough, there are worse works). "Golden" can look a bit too much (all of sudden) but the native of the south of France had a solar aura, accordingly to the generation that admired him (i.e. the Platini generation as teenagers then young pros) but also his teammates even older and early opponents to start with. He did not transcend the French Football circle for lack of international achievements and was not renowed in the whole society like a Kopa, a Platini or also a Rocheteau for this. He's more a footballer for the footballers too and it was not the whole society who were into it back then. Also he was not the best communicator as a coach towards the medias. That's it. He's a bit the greatest unknown player although he was really a great player. So Kastendeuch (9 caps) and Michel are more club-wise and very local in the end, I know but nonetheless great captains. And of course Babaorum surely thought of him but there is Marius Trésor (OM and actual NT captain in '78). Michel and Trésor were the two great models for this generation and Trésor was even talked about abroad as a CB when Michel had to compare with (if thought about) with plenty of midfielders who were maybe more explosive than him in the 70s. Michel was more like a libero of the midfield than a box-to-box ("box-to-box" being not completely wrong for all that). And while thinking about it, to reconnect a bit with the opening post I'd say, for the most iconic captain ever (imho) : Carlos Alberto. I don't really know how he interacted with his partners as a captain (or with the referees, coaches, etc.) but in '70 as a right back, of course he had this famous offensive contribution but hopefully he was there in defense in many situations, too. So for all that and for the picture with the trophy in the end I'd surely have him in the platinum category. More infos about O Capitão would be welcome. Btw, Sagnol had Franck Dumas at Monaco, who was really an outstanding captain too.