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3 worst captains in the Premier League

Phil Noble / Reuters

From a teacher cascading his coffee breath over your shoulder at school to a socially awkward boss cracking bad jokes in the office, it's sometimes difficult to work under your supposed superiors.

Playing under the watch of an unsuitable captain is no different in football.

A poor disciplinary record, ill-timed transfer request, or, quite simply, being rubbish at their job has spelled the end of numerous Premier League captains in the past - and today, the latter aspect is particularly felicitous.

Here are theScore's three worst captains in the Premier League:

Wayne Rooney

Maybe Jose Mourinho wanted to show why Wayne Rooney wouldn't work in his system first: He fielded the portly Scouser in a No. 10, where he was overshadowed by the beanpole with ballerina-like grace, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, while he directly stifled the influence that Paul Pogba, the world's most expensive footballer, could have on the game.

Since Rooney has been regularly demoted to the bench, various teammates have been teasing him by chucking the armband around the lineup. Chris Smalling's had a go, Michael Carrick has dragged it over his short sleeves, and Juan Mata led the XI out in last Sunday's 1-1 home draw with West Ham United.

Where Rooney goes from here is unknown, but it's difficult to see him being at United next season - let alone skippering the outfit. Everton boss Ronald Koeman hasn't been shy about wanting to bring the forward back to Goodison Park, but taking the club captaincy from Phil Jagielka, who has a contract until 2018, seems like a tall order.

Per Mertesacker

The sickly cheerleader.

Per Mertesacker was appointed Arsenal's club captain a day before it began the 2016-17 season, but the man nicknamed the BFG by fans - "Big F------ German" - is yet to appear on the pitch due to a troublesome knee issue.

Without being able to marshal the team directly, Mertesacker has taken it upon himself to be motivational via Twitter:

Handing the duty to the 32-year-old was clearly sentimental, and Arsene Wenger had several loose contingency plans: "(Due to his spell on the sidelines) it will be taken by the assistants. One of them will be (Laurent) Koscielny, also (Santi) Cazorla - the experienced players - (Petr) Cech maybe."

If he does take the field in the final year of his contract, it's not as if he leads by example. He has the movement of a sloth during acupuncture, and only proves a reliable force in the air.

A similar criticism could be levelled at Leon Britton's captaincy at Swansea City, but the midfielder's represented the club in each of England's four professional divisions over 15 seasons, which trumps Mertesacker's five-plus terms in north London.

John O'Shea

Here's another player who doesn't exactly lead by example.

A club in Sunderland's predicament - rooted to the bottom of the table, with various inexperienced players in the lineup - would normally welcome a veteran like John O'Shea into the fray.

The Irishman has represented his country at major tournaments, and is the most decorated player in the squad thanks to his medals in the Champions League and FA Cup, three League Cup victories, and five Premier League title wins from his 12 years of professional football at Manchester United.

But David Moyes prefers Lamine Kone (despite the Ivorian not appearing to be enamoured with a career on Wearside) and even Papy Djilobodji in the backline, leaving O'Shea to warm the bench alongside perpetually miserable professional substitute Adnan Januzaj.

O'Shea's contract expires next summer, and it looks increasingly likely that he'll be banished to the footballing wilderness.

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