As a Euro-doper and a football* fan I’m highly embarassed to have to ask but I really want to know.
No, it’s not the offside rule.
What is puzzling me is what does it mean for a player to be team captain? Does he tell others what to do? Does being captain give him special rights to do so? And isn’t that what the coach should be doing anyway?
Can anyone enlighten me?
*Now that we’ve avoided confusion I refuse to call it soccer. It’s football.
Why is this a soccer question? Surely this could apply to almost all team based sports where you need someone to focus the team and make sure that everyone is playing to their best abilities? If I was playing and someone else told me to change something I’d question them, but if it was the captain I’d accept whatever they said absed on the fact that he’s talking to me for the good of the team.
In soccer, the coach/manager isn’t allowed to interact with the players on the pitch except at half-time.
The Coach / Manager is certainly allowed to interact with players during the game - he / she has to stay within a prescribed area on the touchline, but can bellow as loud and long as he / she likes at the players.
The captain’s role is to maintain team spirit on the pitch, ensure that appropriate tactics are being implemented (as communicated by the manager) and to make decisions around free kicks / penalties etc (although many teams now have a nominated penalty taker).
Referees will also speak to the captain when they want a team as a whole to comply with certain aspects of the rules - perhaps lots of violent challenges, or underhand tactics - the captain will be asked to ensure his team behave.
The captain is the physical, spiritual and intellectual leader of the football team on the pitch. Off the pitch, the latter of these two responsibilities may be assumed in part, or in total, by the coach.