Gareth Southgate is giving himself time to find the "best scenario" when it comes to the England captaincy, having told Wayne Rooney the position is no longer his by right.
This is yet another period of transition for the Three Lions after Southgate was handed the manager's job following a promising four-match interim reign.
The former Middlesbrough and England Under-21s boss has repeatedly underlined the need for leaders and last week suggested he favoured a shift away from the notion of a permanent England captain.
Rooney, who the manager confirmed as skipper in December, was left out of the squad for Wednesday's 1-0 loss against Germany and Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania amid questions over game-time and fitness, with Southgate using this period to assess his options.
"I guess I am giving myself time to think through what the best scenario is, really," he said in regards to the captaincy.
"I have said in the past we want to develop more leaders. We did that with Gary (Cahill in Germany) - I know he's not playing on Sunday and it is opportunity to share that responsibility.
"I think people have stepped up in their performance, so there were people that weren't wearing the armband that played with the ball as leaders and played without it as leaders, so for me that's the more important part."
Rooney and Liverpool's Jordan Henderson - both absent from this squad - have each led the side out on two occasions under Southgate, while Cahill wore the armband in Dortmund on Wednesday.
But with the Chelsea defender suspended for the Lithuania match, another player will captain the side at Wembley on Sunday.
Asked if there could be a system that sees the most capped player captain the side, he said: "It is one possibility, but then at the moment that would mean Joe (Hart) gets it every time.
"It is something I want to think through, but it is not as important to me as making sure that more develop and more are given responsibility."
Southgate will have until the summer to continue pondering how best to deal with the captaincy after this weekend's qualifier.
It will be interesting to see whether the England manager plumps for the same three-man defence and three-pronged attack on Sunday after it showed so much promise at Signal Iduna Park.
"The players knew on Monday afternoon, with the couple of meetings we had and low-tempo run-through that we did without any opposition, that was the way we were going to play," Southgate said.
"We explained why. It's important the players have an understanding of the system and the reason for doing it.
"Most have played it at their club, or if they haven't, they played in positions they were suited to, like (debutant Michael) Keane and (Adam) Lallana, although he played it a bit with Brendan (Rodgers when at Liverpool).
"For me, It wasn't a risk. It suited the profile of the players we've got."
Southgate was proud of his players' display in Germany, despite Lukas Podolski's thunderous strike on his 130th and final international appearance seeing them defeated 1-0.
But his frustration at failing to turn dominance into victory was clear, having thrown away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Spain in their last friendly encounter in November.
"It would be easy just to view them as games that have to be won, and then you don't risk, don't try things and you don't give people opportunities," Southgate added.
"Would we make all the changes we did in another scenario? In a game like that, that's the purpose - if you don't put lads in, you'll never find out about them. Performances like Michael Keane are a real plus.
"The margins are fine, but we don't want to be a team who are nearly but not quite - the games with Spain and Germany, where probably we should get over the line and win both, and we haven't.
"In a way, for me, that is good because it means we have to keep working and improving and challenging them, but the level of performance is pleasing."
