Dara O'Shea

O'Shea reads danger early and rarely gets dragged into a rushed challenge. He prefers to show a striker away from goal rather than committing to a tackle he might lose. Playing for several clubs across his career required him to adjust to new systems and teammates, and that adaptability shows in how settled he looks organising an unfamiliar back line. Ipswich handed him the captaincy on the strength of that composure, trusting him to establish the tone when results are not going their way.

Leadership alone does not stop a good striker, and the genuine test for O'Shea comes against forwards who can transform a calm defensive shape into chaos. Captains carry pressure that goes beyond their performance, because teammates look to them the moment things start going wrong. How he balances organising others with defending his own patch will say plenty about whether he grows into the armband.