Here’s a question for you: Who is Manchester United’s official club captain?

The hullabaloo surrounding the England cricket skipper has shown how different the role is in the two sports.

I think Gary Neville is actually the club captain at United, but to be honest I’m not sure. He has been injured for most of the last two years so Ryan Giggs took over.

The Welshman is in and out of the team, though, so Rio Ferdinand has donned the armband the most recently. (The pair lifted the Champions League trophy in May, see right, with poor Gary left on the sidelines).

Let’s face it, it doesn’t really matter who the captain is on the football field. Technical areas are so large now that coaches can bark the orders and leave centre backs, traditionally the obvious skippers, to the defending.

In Spain, clubs often have several club captains and in Italy it generally goes to the most-experienced player.

Paolo Maldini, 40, is club captain at AC Milan but plays once every three games. If the captain was that important, wouldn’t they appoint one who played every game?

At Euro 2008 after Fabio Cannavaro was ruled out through injury, the Italy captaincy switched between Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon depending on whether Del Piero was picked or not. In this case, the situation made Italy’s bungling performances worse and is perhaps an instance where one clear skipper was needed.

In cricket, the captain is all-important given he decides field placings, bowling changes, declarations etc.

As we have seen with Kevin Pietersen’s demise, the way a captain conducts himself off the field with management is equally important.

Maybe football has learnt from this too. A club captain can be the bridge between the team and the coach but that doesn’t mean he has to be on the field.

PHOTO: Manchester United players Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Ryan Giggs and Tomasz Kuszczak celebrate with the Champions League trophy after defeating Chelsea in the final at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow May 22, 2008. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Arsene Wenger’s appointment of Cesc Fabregas as captain is more than just a strategic move, designed to ward off Barcelona attempts to recover the one that got away. The decision also says something significant about the way Wenger sees Arsenal Football Club. 

Wenger has changed the youth system, the players’ diets and the style of play and he has now appointed a captain made in the image of another gifted Catalan, Josep Guardiola i Sala.

The first time I was in a room listening to Wenger speak was after a Champions League game between Barcelona and Arsenal in 1999. Arsenal had just managed to claim a 1-1 draw, despite being comprehensively outplayed in the first half, and Wenger was extolling the virtues of Barca’s then captain.

“Guardiola was technically perfect,” he said, with something of a “purr” in his voice. “In the first half we tried to close him down to stop him using the ball but that didn’t work. In the second we just had to stop the ball getting to him in the first place.”*

Here’s what Wenger said when asked about the position of captain this week: “I don’t believe too much in leadership. I believe more in good passing than a guy who jumps around with his hands in the air and plays the leader.”

In England, where the captaincy often goes to the most ‘inspirational’ player, Wenger’s words probably sound strange but, thinking back nine years, I can’t help feeling Fabregas, a ball-playing midfielder who commands respect by the way he plays and leads by example, is the captain Wenger has wanted all along.

And if the move helps him recover his outstanding form of last season, and keeps Barcelona at bay for a year or two more, so much the better.

PHOTO: Gallas and Fabregas attend a team training session in London Colney, Nov 24, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

* I paraphrase, of course. It was a memorable quote, but nine years is a long time…