It was revealed by assistant manager Colin Pascoe that Emre Can could be a captain of Liverpool in the future. During a scheduled press conference last week, Pascoe fielded questions from the media as manager Brendan Rodgers was away on “club business in Europe”. One question was put towards Pascoe about how well Can is progressing and could he see Can possibly becoming captain of the Merseyside club in the future. Answering the question Pascoe said “He is a leader on the pitch and the way he is playing he has been fantastic.“
Can arrived in Liverpool byway of Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a fee of £9.5 million. A product of the Bayern Munich youth academy, Can was sold to Leverkusen during the summer of 2013 with the view that Bayern would buy him back if he successes at his new club. A process that Bayern have been using for years, with club stalwarts Phillip Lham and now Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos. It didn’t take long for Liverpool to be alerted of Can’s promising talents and for Rodgers to jump on a plane with his scouting team to suss out the German U21 international. With his versatility on display during the matches, Rodgers took the step of obtaining Can’s services for this season.
Can has played for every German youth international level from U15 to U21, and on his current form he can’t be too far away from joining up with the World Cup winning senior team soon. Labelled as the next Michael Ballack, the sky seems to be the limit on how well he could develop.
Since arriving at Anfield Can has been asked to assume several roles. Making his full debut as an attacking midfielder, he has found a niche as a right centre back in the new 3-4-3 system deployed by Rodgers. His favoured position is as a defensive midfielder, a position that up until recently has been occupied by Lucas but with the current injuries to both Lucas and now current captain Steven Gerrard, it is predicted that we could see him in his desired role in the coming games. His versatility has allowed for him to fill gaps in teamsheets to the advantage of Liverpool and their current form. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing though, during the club’s slump in which they lost the struggling Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, it was noted that Can couldn’t even buy a spot on the team sheet.
Other players seemed to be above him in the pecking order as Rodgers seemingly couldn’t find the correct position or the correct opposition to use him. After Rodgers needed some help linking the back three to the midfield during the Boxing Day game against Burnley, Can’s number was finally called. Rodgers recalling that he had seen Can as a centre back during one of the scouting trip decided that Can would be better equipped to fill that void compared to Kolo Toure, who was the player who made way for Can to come in. From then neither he or Rodgers have looked back with Can being celebrated for his outstanding performances and his calmness while in possession.
What could Can bring to the captain’s armband? As a player that looks like a born leader he has implemented himself as a voice that must be heard on the pitch, encouraging other players and backing them up when needed. His willingness to play wherever needed shows a great example to other players that want to be in the squad. He shows that determination and hard work will pay off, even when he couldn’t muscle his way into the team. All key attributes that you would want as a captain. At this moment in time though there appears to be too many candidates already ahead of him.
Jordan Henderson is currently the vice-captain and odds on favourite to become captain when Gerrard leaves for LA Galaxy in the MLS. Henderson would be 25 at that time and the youngest captain in the Premier League by 4 years, the second youngest captain is Vincent Kompany of Manchester City at the ripe old age of 29. The problem with Henderson is that Rodgers is yet to publicly name who will be captain when Gerrard says farewell. Other possibilities could be former club captains Adam Lallana and Mamadou Sakho who were both previous captains of Southampton and PSG respectively. Long term players Lucas and Skrtel would also want to stake their claim on the arm band if Henderson is looked over so with that in mind, it looks increasingly unlikely that Can would be the captain anytime soon. But, things will change in the future, players will come and go and if Can decides to commit his career to Liverpool then he could possibly become a leader of the team in years to come.
In the meantime could he be the vice-captain of the Anfield club? Possibly. At this point in time only Brendan Rodgers knows what he will do in relation to this decision that he will have to make soon, but with so many players showing leadership skills during the slump, and now after it as the team pushes forward, there will be many candidates. If they don’t become captain Skrtel, Lucas, Lallana, Sakho, and Daniel Sturridge could all be in the running to be the deputy. Not a bad problem to have because it means the whole team from front to back is full of leaders, something Rodgers and the transfer committee probably targeted when trying to acquire talent during the transfer windows.
“He is a leader on the pitch and the way he is playing he has been fantastic.” Pretty much sums up who Can is. A leader, a player and a possible captain, Emre Can is quickly becoming a fan favourite and showing everyone why Liverpool activates that £9.5 million release clause.
