Palace columnist for the Croydon Advertiser Alisdair Kemp on Mile Jedinak as captain…
AFTER an indisputably apathetic start to his Palace career, Mile Jedinak's sterling performances in the red and blue have cemented his status a fans' favourite.
His strength in the tackle, aerial ability and spatial awareness proved pivotal on the road to promotion.
However, he never seemed an obvious choice as club captain and his worrying dip in form since before the Christmas period have done little to assuage this doubt in my mind about him.
There are two qualities I look for in any captain. The best captains in world football that spring to mind, such as Carles Puyol, John Terry and Steven Gerrard, have both in their leadership arsenal. In my mind, Jedinak is yet to consistently demonstrate either.
The first of these characteristics is leadership by example. By this I mean an ability to drag flagging team-mates through adversity solely by means of body language and attitude demonstrated in a captain's performance.
Too often this season Palace have been guilty of wasting minutes and letting matches pass them by – an infinitely more frustrating approach to a relegation battle than simply being persistently beaten.
Such games require Jedinak to grab the game by the scruff of the neck to motivate those around him.
Pressing an opponent quickly or putting in an aggressive challenge are enough to achieve this. But all too often this season Jedinak seems content to remain in his quarterback role, sitting off the play, and commits fouls where there could be positive challenges.
The Australian's attitude to conceding goals has been a concern of mine for a while too. When the ball hits the back of our net, I expect to see our leader on the pitch grab the ball and sprint with it back to the middle, slamming it down on the centre spot.
I want to see a captain that is keen for play to resume: to right the wrongs.
Instead, I look forlornly at Jedinak as he lumbers back to the centre circle, shoulders slumped and looking dejected. Not the body language of a captain.
The second characteristic is vocal leadership. I'd like to see Jedinak talking to the players more – calling them in for huddles during injury breaks or putting an arm around players that are struggling.
Instead he seems a little too reserved to do so, or is even complaining occasionally.
Incidentally, the number of times I saw him waving his arms in frustration on Saturday when he had no one to pass to was disappointing.
I empathise with the frustration but captains do not have the luxury of reacting in such a negative and defeatist way.
Jedinak's form has certainly suffered of late. He is without a doubt our most important player and it's disappointing to see such a talented individual struggling.
Perhaps giving the captaincy to Damien Delaney, who is a leader without the armband at the moment, would alleviate the pressure on our star midfielder and allow him to thrive once more.
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