Captains important or not?

Just wanted to get a quick consensus on some other players views on the importance of having your captain on the pitch for critical games?

A bit of back ground first:

I am playing as Newcastle in the 2014/15 season, we are leading the premiership by 15 points after 31 games.

My captain is Ochoa and my vice Captain is Jorden Spence (he may be a re-gen, I am not sure).

In the January transfer window, Akinfeev became available of free transfer, as no one offered him a contract, I decided it might be good business to snap him up, play him and then unload him at the start of next season.

Now the senerio:

I am up against Chelsea in the FA cup and could only manage a draw 2-2 at home. Now as I usually do when I can not understand why the result went against me, I save the game, re-load before the match and play it a few times to see what was wrong with my tactics. Ironically in all the reloads my results were:

Lost 3, drew 2. Baffled as to what the issue could be I tried one more change and put Ochoa back in goal, instantly I have seen an improvement and won the next 2 reloads, despite the match statistics being similar.

So I know what I will be doing in the re-play at their ground.

SO simply, my question is: Do you think their is too much importance placed on the captain in difficult matches?

Nailed them 3-0 in the replay at their ground, so the analysis worked.

Captians = vital. Their effects on others is, I wonder, almost too great for reality(?) The right captian will reduce your "card-age", and increase both team-wide workrate and determination. Among, I believe, other "intagibles."

IMO, FWIW

Having said that, I acknowledge your little analysis isn't an attempt in a statistical sense, but even so, the sample size is way too low to make a definate claim. Not that you did, or anything.

Yes, I find a good captain helps teams dig in and play when really needed. Like when you're 2-0 down at half time in the CL final.

Also of the pitch. On my old Man City save I was having morale problems. I asked Toure to hold a meeting three times and each went badly. Switched captain to Pirlo and he sorted things out first meeting. Didn't lose a game all season after that.

aye i always look for a good captain, good influence too as i normally have a young squad.

Jordan spence is a DB player also

I agree the captain is possibly slightly too important.

In my latest game, I still play a relatively poor player who has been the captain for a long time (a defender who is still a key player despite two promotions) simply because of his influence (20) and loyalty which counts for a lot. If he hadn't been captain for the last 5 years he wouldn't be at the club and would be playing at a far lower level - but he DOES make a huge difference in important games.