Well i was just tired to repeat the same thing over and over again and wanted to send you the message because i wasn't understanding why you were keeping arguing over something already discussed a lot of times, but whatever this will be my final post on the matter. I'll never discuss about it with you again. Like i've already said, it's up to you to believe what you want
First of all, the captain(or vice-captain) isn't supposed to be competent in everything. For example, Luffy is even worse than Zoro in terms of cooking, navigation, ship reparation and so on, but he is the captain. So arguments about Zoro can't do this, Zoro can't do that, or Nami was giving orders in navigation, Sanji in cooking or whatever is ridiculous. Navigation is Nami's role in the crew. Cooking is Sanji's role in the crew. Franky has his own role and so on. Furthermore, because one is the captain doesn't mean he can't listen to his subordinates. There is a difference between listening and ordering.
Listening = to pay attention to someone or something in order to hear what is being said, sung, played. A captain can listen to what his subordinates says and it's up to him to decide to follow his indications or not
Ordering = A command given by a superior requiring obedience, as in the execution of a task
That is what you call leadership. The captain is nothing else than the authority on board and the vice-captain is the one taking charge of the group's structure when he falters, nothing more than that
Zoro outside of Luffy has demonstrated more leadership than anyone else in the crew.
The Usopp Mutiny: Perhaps Zoro's greatest display of leadership when he wouldn't let his captain embarrass himself by letting a guy who quit the crew over something stupid back in without so much as an apology to excuse his earlier actions. That's something Luffy, the captain, the leader of the crew, should have done himself, but didn't because he let his feelings overwhelm his obligations and duties as captain.
What Zoro did then was something a leader does. To debate that is beyond asinine. When Luffy failed to act as he was supposed to then, Zoro filled the leadership void that they needed, and didn't ask politely. He straight up told every single member of the Strawhat member crew they weren't going anywhere, and that he would not let them bring that kid back on their ship. If that's not an order, it's the closest and firmest one we've seen given aside from the captain. And the only person who could have overridden Zoro, didn't say a word.
"They respected Zoro's wishes as an equal on the crew," is an absurdly specious argument. That wasn't a wish. That was an order. He told everyone they weren't leaving the ship, that they would have to go through him, and that he wasn't letting Usopp back in without an apology, and nobody did a thing.
Urouge: The Supernova acknowledged Zoro as the first mate. He also said that "he doesn't seem to be the type of guy who takes orders..." Now some people dismiss this because he's an outsider and doesn't decide whose task is what in the crew and whatever. They shouldn't dismiss it though, because Urouge thinking of Zoro as first mate is indicative of the notion that the rest of the outside world who know of the Strawhat pirates think of him that way as well. Urouge can't be the only one harboring those ideas. And perception is worth a great deal in the OP world.
Fishman Island: Zoro took royal hostages and handled negotiations on the den-den mushi. Everyone yelled at Zoro for handling things too roughly. Their other option was losing and letting Neptune imprison them. Zoro made the tough call, and they may have voiced objections, but ultimately didn't do a damn thing to stop him. Zoro made the tough call that the others weren't willing to make, but it protected his friends and it made sense.
Punk Hazard: When Luffy lost to Caesar, the first one Usopp tried to give information about is Zoro. When Zoro got the information combined to the fact he and the rest also got subdued by the yeti cool brothers, for the crew's safety, for the crew's future, realising that the crew will go nowhere in the new world if they continue to be so careless, he took charge not only to responsibilize his captain but also the entire crew's structure
Dressrosa Bartolomeo is a fanboy of the crew. He followed their adventures since day one. And no the "Bartolomeo is a gag" or "he isn't leaving with the crew" is a faulty argument. Infact, Bartolomeo by being a fanboy of the crew is the exact person who should know the most about them especially when talking about something as superficial as the crew's structure. It's not like Luffy gave titles yet. It's how the world perceives Zoro in the crew(as the vice-captain), so Bartolomeo himself should know something like this(he even says it himself). He isn't the random judge. He knows Zoro doesn't have that title "yet", but it's what he believes he represents by observing the crew's structure.
Whenever Luffy isn't there, the strawhat crew becomes Zoro's group:
- Zoro's group:
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- Zoro's side:
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- Zoro's gang:
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- Zoro and the others:
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- Zoro illustrated for the strawhats group in the box:
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- Zoro's group:
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All that shows that whenever Luffy isn't near or when he falters, Zoro is the authority