POLL: Who should be the next captain of Manchester United?

Wayne Rooney- the natural successor to Keane and Cantona?

Watching the ding dong end to end game against Reading on Saturday, wishing I had a defibrillator on standby and it struck me that there was no leadership on the pitch. No Keane. No Robson. No Cantona. No one is there to mentor the young players and no one to give a bollocking to those who should know better. Evra is a great left back, but he is not a Denis Irwin and is not a captain who meets United standards. Perhaps Vidic (maybe) is returning for the six-pointer derby next week just in time? We will need more than his defending, especially if we meet Barcelona or Real in Europe.

The team is definitely missing a driving leader. The only one who could possibly take on that role, in my opinion, is Rooney. No matter how well or badly he is playing personally, his passion for the team still shows. Perhaps he is the player who is destined to take the position, which has been left void after Keane, Robson and Cantona.

Looking at Rooney’s passing, slotting him into Scholes’s position in midfield will help the team and he will also be able to grab as many goals as Scholes did at his peak or Lampard in the early 2000′s. He can play from the middle of the park, while pushing passes through to Hernandez, Welbeck or Van the man. Playing Rooney on the wings is a waste.

Rooney is maturing into the midfield general we are missing so dearly. Every game shows him pulling strings and with tactical maturity, he needs to gain the emotional intelligence to captain the hearts as well as the minds of the team.

We need the drive which Keane used to provide, we need it now and others such as Evra or Vidic show glimmers but not consistently enough. We need a Red on the pitch who leads with his heart on his sleeve. And we need a dominant keeper and defender to give that platform to the midfield, to ensure we can face Champions league challenges from the super teams looming.