Lloris for captain?

In a team sorely lacking in leadership last season, it seemed logical for Dawson to continue being club captain even if his position in the team wasn’t certain. As it turned out, he started more games in defence than anyone else and yet his departure to Hull didn’t lead to panic about the captaincy because Kaboul was quite obviously the vice-captain. Even with Fazio expected to permanently take his place in defence, his position as nominal captain isn’t necessarily under threat.

However, if Kaboul does find himself out of the starting XI, then at the very least a match day captain is needed. It’s an intriguing situation because despite his relatively few games as captain, Kaboul may actually be harder to replace than Dawson because of a lack of alternatives. With Fazio’s debut postponed and Vertonghen injured, the awarding of the captaincy was delayed against Sunderland but the question remains: whether as club captain or match day captain, who will (presumably) replace Younès Kaboul?

Rather than being a difficult decision, the lack of options means that the experienced Hugo Lloris comes straight to mind. Despite this being only his third season at the club, he finds himself in the strange position of being a “senior” member of the squad. Out of the longer-term players, only Lennon, Friedel and Walker have been match day captains before, but for the first two, the captaincy is a non-starter because, well, they’re now non-starters.

[linequote]Despite this being only his third season at the club, he finds himself in the strange position of being a ‘senior’ member of the squad[/linequote]

While Walker is one of the few likely to be guaranteed a place in the starting line-up, he’s still young and it would be a incredibly bold move to make him captain. In any case, Walker’s return date has once again been pushed back and so making him captain would solve absolutely nothing.

The likes of Fazio, Eriksen and Vertonghen have also been (long-term) captains at club level and/or internationally, and they too are likely to feature regularly, but out of the three only Vertonghen could realistically challenge for the captaincy because the others are barely into their Tottenham careers.

Even then, while Vertonghen would be a good choice as captain, his lacklustre displays and poor attitude last season have probably (although not definitely) hampered his chances, which leaves Hugo Lloris as the more likely candidate.

The term “world class” is bandied about all too readily, but since his signing, Lloris has repeatedly demonstrated that he deserves to be in that category. It goes without saying that being world class doesn’t give you a right to the captaincy, just as not being world class doesn’t prevent you from being captain at a top club: just ask Michael Dawson.

What it does suggest though, is that at a club which is still trying to find its best starting XI, you’re likely to be a starter and as a world class goalkeeper there are few safer bets in football. When you also factor in that Lloris is the captain of France (a side also previously in transition), it becomes a case of him being by far the most sensible option. It’s also worth remembering that not all captains have to be brutes in the John Terry mould.

Giving Lloris the captaincy (or Vertonghen for that matter) might perhaps be viewed cynically, as a thinly-veiled plea for him to remain at the club. After all, a number of Tottenham players would improve many of the top clubs in Europe, but it’s Lloris that can legitimately lay claim to being able to walk straight into any starting XI except Bayern Munich.

At times last season, you almost felt sorry for Lloris and worried that with summer approaching, the players were unknowingly fighting as much for Lloris’ Tottenham career as they were their own. Conceding goal after goal, and with a shaky and ever-changing defence in front of him, you had to ask how long Lloris would continue to put up with it when he could be living a comfortable life making one save a game against the minnows of La Liga or Ligue 1.

[linequote]The awarding of the captaincy to Lloris would be based, first and foremost, on merit[/linequote]

Hopefully Lloris’ inclination to come out of his box is a sign that the excitement of the Premier League is the more appealing option. More positive still, while Vorm’s arrival may be worrying, when Monaco were making enquiries Lloris stated that he only left Lyon to play abroad, and with Real Madrid and Barcelona recently buying goalkeepers, there are few other teams that could probably afford Lloris with Daniel Levy in charge.

The captaincy wouldn’t just be about wanting him to stay if top four isn’t achieved because not only is such a strategy unlikely to work, but the awarding of the captaincy would be based, first and foremost, on merit; it takes a special kind of keeper to concede four or five and still be man-of-the-match or thereabouts. The captaincy may end up going to someone else, but for me it will be hard to look beyond Lloris for captain and that’s no bad thing.