A good cigar

You may ask yourself just what exactly is the role of a team captain. Or possibly, you may not ask yourself that. You may have been born with the innate knowledge of just exactly what it is that a captain does. It seems that football captains are quite similar to ice hockey and baseball captains in America. His role is both symbolic and official. He must exist—the armband is everpresent and is passed along even if the captain is substituted.

Some club captains even become transcendent figures in football. There are four who I often cite as examples of just how much power the armband can have—Paolo Maldini, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira, and Roy Keane. Each was a symbol and each was an official. Each was the central figure on teams that achieved greatness.

I've heard it posited that a club captain should never be a striker nor a keeper, because the former is too selfish and the latter is too isolated. Either a defender, for his role in organising the team, or a midfielder, for his role in both attack and defence, should wear the armband. In other words, Alan Shearer was a crap captain, but I'd offer that was more because he was a selfish **** who only cared about himself and how often Warren Barton gave him longing looks in the showers.

For many of us, Tony Adams will always be the Arsenal captain. Schooled by an Arsenal man who'd won the double himself in 1971, Adams captained the club for 14 years and despite, or perhaps because of, his battles with drink, was the unquestioned leader of the club through two different eras of greatness. Adams was Arsenal, is still Arsenal, and will always be Arsenal. You can't picture him in another shirt. Yes, when he began his career it was a different era, but when he ended it, the era had changed yet Tony Adams still stood tall as the Arsenal captain.

What made Adams great, then? Before his admission that he was an alcoholic, it was his talent. After that admission, it was his character. His strength of will combined with his tactical awareness in defence commanded respect from every player who put on the shirt. His record as a medal-winner did the same. He had the credentials that made other players watch his example and listen to his words. It should be remembered, also, that his second act only existed because Arsène kept faith with him. It was in September, 1996 that Tony stood and called himself an alcoholic. It was in October of that year that Arsène arrived. So AW inherited not only a famous defence but a club captain who was a wreck—and yet allowed Tony to keep the armband and captain the club to two double wins.

There wasn't much speculation after 2002 as to which Arsenal player would succeed Adams as captain. The hard man and engine of the Arsenal side, Patrick Vieira, seemed to be the only choice. Vieira was not "Arsenal by birth" but he seemed to be Arsenal by induction. He came to the club having made only 2 first team appearances at Milan—one of Arsène's first mystery purchases that turned out to be a masterstroke. So how did this player plucked from obscurity manage to command Arsenal as the captain of an unbeaten side?

Patrick Vieira was a fighter. Whereas Adams was a solid figure of great dignity, Patty (I call him that, despite Paul Williams' protests) was as combative a player as existed in the Prem. There would never be a moment when a tackle wasn't made, much less a required foul that would send a message that passed him by. Fight in the tunnel with Roy Keane? Fight on the pitch? Don't **** with Vieira. Having won league medals and been a key figure in a World Cup winning side, Vieira commanded respect for his accomplishments, but he also commanded respect for being 100% committed. Until—of course, the inevitable pursuit by Real Madrid. He remained, however, and captained the side to its most recent (I refuse to say "last") trophy, the 2005 FA Cup.

This idea of "passing the torch" from Adams to Vieira was crucial—Patty inherited the armband from one of the most decorated players in club history, and he himself had been a driving force on trophy winning sides. It was natural and seemed almost inevitable.

The other two I mentioned—Keane and Maldini—each represented everything a club captain should be. Maldini is simply the greatest captain ever. More in the Adams mould of leading with dignity and example, his record speaks for itself: Five European Cups and seven Scudettos. Everything he did on the pitch for Milan was exemplary. No club anywhere would want more from a captain, as an organiser or as a role model for players who came and went. The other aspects that made him a great captain are longevity and loyalty to his club. He kept himself fit and as he did that was able to pass along the traditions of the club to younger players.

Keane—well, we know Royston, don't we? Paul Davis' replacement...

Keane was a great captain because of his intolerance for poor performances by his fellow players. Yes, he was talented, but for me, it was his unwillingness to suffer fools that made him great. He literally was the embodiment of SAF's temper on the pitch and it was his dual nature—his devotion to his teammates and furor at their mistakes—that demanded respect. I think of Keane as driving his team forward by fear as much as anything else. Knowing that he might come after you must have been one of the biggest motivators for that team after Cantona left, bossing a midfield of young players and forcing them to play to his standards. And his standards were as high as any player has ever had, having been shaped by Cloughie and Ferguson. What other credentials would a captain need?

The successors at Arsenal to Adams and Vieira were not cut from the same cloth, and as much as I will always love Theirry Henry he was not a club captain. I won't speak of Billy Gallas.

And that brings us to Cesc Fabregas.

"When is a good cigar more than just a good cigar?"

I'm sorry, Cesc, but you're not a captain. You don't deserve the armband. I don't even know if you care about this club and to be honest, if you leave it that will be that. Everyone speaks of your talent, and I know you have that. Everyone speaks of your creativity and your invention, and it's clear that you have enough of that for two players. You're brilliant.

But you're no leader. There's nothing about your presence that says you'll be anything close to the captains I've cited. From your constant "will he or won't he" with your "home club" to your injury issues to just what seems as though an inability to lead your fellows, you have failed as a captain.

I like Cesc as a player—I mean, who wouldn't? But what is there about him that suggests that he's a man who will help the team make the leap from "talented underachievers" to title winners?

I don't know what else to say. The club captaincy is, in the end, an important role. The captain can influence the side. The captain can make a difference. In order to do that, however, the captain must be willing to take on the responsibilities that the armband brings, and that includes forgoing a trip to the Spanish Grand Prix on the day of the final fixture of the season.

Tony Adams was made captain at age 21. Jack Wilshere will turn 20 on January 1.

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