Everyone will have to retire someday. It's not Phil's fault for saying he wanted to remain as the skipper. He IS the captain, and he has been playing well. It has to be Michael Ballack's fault if he failed to keep his jealousness to himself, especially at this time being. Michael Ballack should permanently retire from German National Team immediately and leave the opportunies to the youngsters... or would anyone rather keep Schweinsteiger, Khedira, or even Benders and Rolfes on the bench instead?
The other important factor is that Michael Ballack has lost his dominant leadership in this German National Team. Besides Miro Klose, I can barely name one that is a big fan of Michael Ballack in this team... without a superb leadership quality, even if he got back to the squad nobody would like him becoming their captain and b'ching at everybody.
From the tactical perspectives... Michael is already too slow and his style of play was always lack of creativity. Good luck at Bayer and stop being an 34yr old emotional dude. Watch your ex-teammates play and cheer for your country.