In the midst of grinding teeth about the recall from Jordan Henderson by England, it is worth mentioning that he is a changing room leader in a time of desperate short of that kind of player.
Matt Barlow says: this can be a by-product from our elite academies or the fashion for tactical micro-coaching that we have seen in recent years.
Whatever it is, Henderson is what Sheffield United Manager Chris Wilder calls a 'culture career'. Someone who is able to dictate moods in the camp, to give examples and who can be familiar with to manage the dressing room and find out problems among players. Every manager craves them. Every successful team will have them. And the great thing about it is that they can reproduce.
Look at Liverpool in full bloom since the losing of their captain, Henderson. Virgil van Dijk has become a great leader. There is Allison and Mo Salah who proves exactly what is needed to be the best in the world in their position. With his background, Andy Robertson is fighting through the competitions and Trent Alexander-Arnold with his deep connections with the city of Liverpool.
Thomas Tuchel seems to have weighed his English team and decided that he needs a little more of that leadership, even when it's just around the edges. He has omitted Harry Maguire, who probably also falls into the category. And he knows Harry Kane well from their time together in Bayern Munich.
Kane is a good captain in the sense that he sets a good example. His preparation is exemplary. He trains well. He rests and refuses in the right way. If he didn't, he would not have been able to become the biggest goal scorer in England. And he is a player who is aware of his status.
Kane will tackle his teammates and rarely not in public near public. And by that I mean with questions instead of running home and sticking something Trite on Instagram from a safe distance. So this is not designed to deny the captain of Kane.
Kane does not relieve responsibility and yet he may not be a captain with the same sense of collective mind as Henderson. With his focus trained on scoring all those goals, he may not probably be able to lift others Cajole, to raise those who are down and keep them on the ground with ego's who are in danger of get out of hand.
Henderson is in the team for his experience and his collective leadership skills. He is there to guard the dressing room. Not to tell stories to Tuchel, but to ensure that the team has a healthy view. To understand the traveling direction and to ensure that the people around him understand it too.
And that should also be good for the emerging leaders of England, who like Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.
Because there was not long ago when there were many of those types in the dressing room of England. When the majority were senior players with performance among their belts and strong opinions. Sometimes it might even have been a problem.
Modern football is different with brilliant, technically gifted young people who are quickly followed from academies in Premier League-first teams where they operate under detailed instructions of the boss, almost as a remote control.
England needs some players who can think themselves, and Henderson is perhaps one of the few who can wear that culture in the coming 18 months and still plays a role around the edges of the team.
If he can't do that, he might teach others how to do it.
Japanese influence stronger than ever
It is not only Kaoru Mitoma who flies in Brighton again. With Ao Tanaka excel at Leeds and Yuki Ohashi Score Sitters at Blackburn, there has never been such a strong Japanese influence in the football of England.
To the north of the border, the connection of Celtic with Japan remains strong, despite the exit from Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes in January and there are many more throughout Europe.
At the start of the season there were an estimated 68 Japanese players in Europe, including in each of the Big Five competitions.
Twenty-one of the 26 selected for the Japanese world cup qualifications against Bahrain and Saudi Arabia play in Europe, plus five from the J League.
The Japan FA opened an office in Deusseldorf in 2020 to support their players in Europe and the J League will open this year one in London to create better links to European clubs.
Dust that passport now
It is a long chance, but there is a chance that half the Premier League will be in Europe next season.
Five Champions League places are almost guaranteed after last week's results. Aston Villa will make six if they win it and finish outside the top five.
Manchester United of Tottenham will make seven if they win the Europa League and end up outside the top five, which certainly looks.
Plus, two Europa League places and one in the Conference League and that will be 10 out of 20. How is your CO2 footprint?
Pyramid does work for England
Nice timing to combine with the EFL's Youth Development Week to find more than a third of those selected by Lee Carsley for England under 21 years of age – including all three keepers – play in the EFL and all except four have appeared in the lower competitions. Ten of 22 mentioned in Ben Futcher's
Elite League team, also known as the under the 20s, play in the EFL. The pyramid is vital for the development of England.
Bradford in the turnout
This time, Bradford City was in the middle of the Middlee, in protest and criticized in this column for the failure of their fans.
Credit their progress. They are firmly on course for promotion, even if they pick a chance to draw the level with Walsall, who were clearly 12 points at the top of League Two in January, by losing at home against Tranmere on Saturday.
Brilliant brentford
Brentford was incredible in the Gtech Community Stadium before Christmas with hardly a point on the road.
Now five way in a row wins and no home win in sight. You have to admire their refusal
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