England play the first competitive match of the post-Wayne Rooney era on Sunday, with a determination that the absence of their captain should not mean an absence of leadership across the whole squad.

Joe Hart will wear the armband at Wembley against Lithuania, an appropriate choice as the most experienced international player in the group. With Jordan Henderson injured and Gary Cahill suspended there was no other plausible choice.

But this does not mean that we are entering the era of the Hart captaincy. Gareth Southgate wants to dilute our national obsession with the England armband and understandably so. Southgate wants leadership from throughout his whole team and thinks that putting one chosen player on that pedestal can do more harm than good.

Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6 out of 10 Rash when coming out to challenge Vardy early on, but stood firm to block Alli’s decent chance towards the end of the first half. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Joshua Kimmich – 7 out of 10 One of the few young German players to have a decent evening and potentially sent a message to Carlo Ancelotti, who has not offered him much playing time this season. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Mats Hummels – 7 out of 10 Germany’s best all-round performer, rarely looked troubled by England’s attacking talents. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Antonio Rudiger – 6 out of 10 A solid display, if unspectacular. Did well on the rare occasions when England went aerial. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Jonas Hector – 7 out of 10 Impressed after taking his time to grow into the game. His link-up play with Sane in the second-half was at the root of all England’s problems. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Julian Weigl – 5 out of 10 The main culprit in Germany’s surprising struggle to who Hauled off for Liverpool’s Emre Can midway through the second half. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Toni Kroos – 5 out of 10 Surprisingly poor when it came to the simple stuff, misplaced several passes when not under pressure. Struggled to win his battle against the lesser light of Livermore. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Leroy Sane – 6 out of 10 Did not crackle like we know he can from his recent Manchester City form, but another who improved as the evening went on. Perhaps should’ve doubled Germany’s lead. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Julian Brandt – 4 out of 10 Another player reportedly attracting Premier League interest, he did not show why here. Switched for Andre Schurrle. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Lukas Podolski – 6 out of 10 The equivalent of a testimonial for the veteran and you could tell from his first-half performance. Then came Der Hammer, as Germany’s support calls his left peg. A stunning winner. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Timo Werner – 4 out of 10 The RB Leipzig frontman, a reported target for Liverpool, failed to translate his exciting form at club level to the international stage. Disappointing, but it was only his debut. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Joe Hart – 7 out of 10 Could do little for Podolski’s goal, but did well shortly after to deny Sane with an excellent stop down low to his left. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Gary Cahill – 4 out of 10 Lucky not to concede a penalty for needlessly leaning into a cross in the first-half and could have done better to stop Podolski’s screamer. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Michael Keane – 6 out of 10 Asked to play in a back three on his debut after excelling in a rigid four at Turf Moor all season, but coped admirably. One lapse in concentration was almost punished by Sane. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Chris Smalling – 5 out of 10 An indifferent night from the centre-half. Unlike Cahill, he was rarely called into question, but still did not convince. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Kyle Walker – 6 out of 10 Showed why he will be integral to Southgate’s England in his forays down the right flank, but only did so in glimpses. Hector and Sane began to cause him problems has the game went on. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Eric Dier – 6 out of 10 A lucky boy not to be severely punished for a late, robust tackle on Weigl. That aside, he helped to stifle Germany’s midfield. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Jake Livermore – 7 out of 10 Not everyone’s idea of a no 7, but combined well with Dier in the centre of the park to disrupt Germany’s passing, particularly in the first half. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Ryan Bertrand – 6 out of 10 Not as threatening as Walker was in moments, but defensively solid and frustrated Brandt in the first-half. Schurrle gave him a few more problems after the break. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Dele Alli – 7 out of 10 England’s main creative outlet, but also found himself on the end of several chances. Should have opened the scoring with the first-half’s best chance but hit it straight at Ter Stegen. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Adam Lallana – 7 out of 10 Came close to scoring in his fourth straight England appearance, but thwacked the post after an impressive burst forward. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Jamie Vardy – 5 out of 10 Aggrieved to have not won a penalty early on, but you could tell he was looking for it. Too deep at times too, despite Germany’s defensive line offering him space in behind.

Hart threw himself behind Southgate’s new policy when he spoke on Friday afternoon, saying that “there are different ways to lead”, hoping that every player would lead in his own way against Lithuania.

“The manager has made it pretty clear it’s just an armband to him,” Hart said. “He wants the players, be it Marcus Rashford or myself, to lead. There are different ways to lead. Not just being vocal or having a certain amount of caps. There’s being brave, making decisions, there’s how you are in meetings. There are different ways of leading. The captain’s armband is important, but with or without it he expects the same of all of us.”

That attitude is certainly a departure from the old way of doing things, although not necessarily a bad one. It was the obsession with the captaincy, after all, that caused so many problems for Fabio Capello at the start of this decade. It was an argument about John Terry that eventually forced Capello’s resignation.

Hart grew up in that England environment but he pointed out the fact that in international football, captaincy matters even less than it does in club football, where there are more organisational duties incumbent upon the main man. Clubs need club captains far more than national sides do, and Hart hit upon an important distinction.

“I think it’s important [to see] that, when you look at clubs, sometimes the club captain isn’t necessarily involved [in the team],” Hart said, when asked about Rooney. “Maybe at clubs it is more important because it’s [about] organising and stuff like that.”

Hart knows that Jordan Henderson is likely to be England captain for the internationals against Scotland and France in June, if he recovers from injury and returns to the Liverpool side over the rest of the season. But ultimately it does not matter to Southgate whether it is Henderson, Hart or Cahill who leads his team out for the rest of the campaign or even in Russia. It is performances and results that matter and it might be that taking the armband off the pedestal, as Southgate intends, could have a positive impact on both.