Gary Lineker on the England captaincy: 'It doesn't matter... not one iota'

The former England striker played down the importance of being skipper

Tuesday 22 May 2018 17:29 BST
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Lineker said that the England captaincy is an obsession for some, but not that important
Lineker said that the England captaincy is an obsession for some, but not that important

Harry Kane insists he "filled up with pride" on being named England captain.

But former Tottenham and Three Lions striker Gary Lineker has insisted the role is nothing more than an overblown obsession in this country.

24-year-old Kane was handed the captaincy by Gareth Southgate weeks ago and said it was a "dream come true."

But not only was Lineker keen to play down how captaining from centre-forward might be any more of a challenge for Kane than it would be from any other position.

Indeed, former World Cup golden boot winner Lineker revealed that he doesn't think much of the captaincy at all:

"It’s the same as for anywhere else. It doesn’t make any difference. It doesn’t matter what position you play.

Harry Kane was named England captain for World Cup 2018

"There’s a lot of nonsense written about football. The captaincy is actually not very important on the pitch. It’s only important off it. You’re basically a middle man between the manager and the players and the media and the players.

"But on the field of play, beyond tossing up, everyone behaves exactly as they would anyway," Lineker said at the BBC World Cup launch.

"You’ll have natural leaders on there that will cajole and others that won’t. Harry’s not one of those who will fist pump, as I wasn’t. We sometimes get obsessed with it in this country. No other country in the world does. They have a vote. They have a one, two and three. If one’s not playing, two’s captain. And there is no fuss made about it.

"We tend to create this massive maelstrom about it. It doesn’t matter. It’s important for the player. But in terms of altering the team’s performance, not one iota. It doesn’t make a blind bit of difference. Fact. It’s not cricket. You get no say in tactics. The manager will decide everything. Harry Kane’s not going to go: ‘Right, we’ll change to 3-5-2.’"

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