In the period of 1975-2017, Man United had 6 official captains: Martin Buchan, Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney. Thus, each person will take on the role of captain on average for 5.25 years.
In contrast to the "stability" of the captain's armband in the past, the "Red Devils" have replaced 5 people who have taken on this responsibility in the past 6 years. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once shared that there were 2 players who refused to be captains of Man United during his time in charge. This could be the biggest reason why Solskjaer has put Maguire in the role of captain of the Old Trafford team.
After 2 campaigns in this role, the English midfielder lost the captain's armband to Bruno Fernandes. One of the main reasons for this transfer is that the Portuguese midfielder has played in almost every Man United match. On the other hand, Maguire often has to sit on the bench and this makes the "Three Lions" player not have much say in matches.
In addition, Bruno is highly appreciated by his teammates and staff at Old Trafford for his leadership ability. The former Sporting Lisbon player showed personality, harmony and toughness in his decisions. In addition, the 29-year-old star can speak 4 foreign languages, which is extremely useful in a multilingual team. According to The Athletic, a player in the team said: "No captain shows the solidarity with the whole team, frankly and professionally like Bruno".
However, Man United has not been able to have the best connection in each match. The Old Trafford team had the worst start in history and of course, the captain got the first attention. If Bruno continues to be replaced, who will continue to take on this difficult responsibility?
Scott McTominay is considered to have the qualities to become a captain. The Scotsman has always shown professionalism in training and competition. In addition, the 26-year-old midfielder has matured from Carrington and has a voice in the whole team. However, McTominay has a weakness when he did not play all the matches like Bruno. This has caused the star born in 1996 to not have enough connection and control of the dressing room like her senior.
Along with Scott McTominay, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford are the two most experienced players in the Man United squad. However, they have never been qualified to own the captain's armband. The opposite happened to Casemiro and Raphael Varane, a former Real Madrid player who was capable of leading on the pitch and also received the respect of his teammates. However, their time at the Old Trafford team is not long enough.
According to The Athletic, the members at Man United praised Christian Eriksen's standard attitude. In addition, they also consider the Danish player to be a leader in the team with quietness, stability and professionalism. In addition, a few names are also suggested such as Jonny Evans, Tom Heaton or Lisandro Martinez. However, each person lacks some qualities to become a team leader.
In Man United meetings, all members of the team are allowed to speak. However, a group of players who will have a higher "position" include Bruno, Casemiro, Varane, Maguire, Rashford and Martinez. However, the current captain of Man United - Bruno Fernandes, is still trusted by everyone and has the "greatest" voice among the players.
In the two weeks off for FIFA Days in November, Ten Hag will need to take advantage of this time to resolve outstanding issues. One of them was to regain his spirit and give helpful advice to captain Bruno Fernandes. More than ever, the Red Devils need a solid lead to lead them to success as Roy Keane or Wayne Rooney have done.
