Anyone thinking Odegaard get’s phased out at the end of the season isn’t being serious. He has the armband because he has the confidence of the manager to communicate his ideas to the team, in the same way that Jorginho had the armband towards the end of last game.

Leadership comes in a variety of forms. We had “captain without the armband” Xhaka last year, and Ode seems very content with allowing guys who are naturally vocal the space to do what they do. English culture has an obsession with the captain as some kind of cultural ideal. The reality inside the club is likely very different.