Today, England legend Peter Shilton spoke of how he believes John Terry should be named England captain again. This got me thinking, who would I like as captain of our national team?
Well, Fabio Capello certainly has a plethora of great talent to choose from. The main candidates being John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand. However, other names being whispered are Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Gareth Barry and even David Beckham has been linked to a sensational return as England skipper.
Let me start by saying that I don't believe Beckham should have it. He is a very good player, one of the best England has ever had, and a great leader. In my opinion he should be in the England team for every game, and shouldn't have been left out at all by Steve McClaren or Fabio Capello.
However, he retired from England captaincy, amid speculation he only did so because he knew he would be dropped anyway. If he accepted the captaincy back the speculation would start again, and if you quit as England captain, you shouldn't be given another chance at it.
Gareth Barry is an interesting choice. He has been a successful captain at Aston Villa, and made himself a talisman of the club. He has also established himself as a good international player, keeping Lampard out of the team.
However, despite making his England debut over eight years ago, I don't think he is experienced enough at international level. He only has 20 caps, and I can't really see him bossing the likes of Terry and Gerrard around. I still don't see him as a hugely important cog in the England machine either, something the captain certainly needs to be.
Today's Must Reads
Frank Lampard should be disregarded entirely in my opinion. He is a good player, no doubt about it, but he is overrated and seems quite un-inspirational. He isn't captain of his club and is not in the same league as Gerrard in terms of captaincy and, to me, ability as well.
Lampard at Chelsea is a good player surrounded by other good players, which make him seem great. He is not great. In fact, I think he is Chelsea's worst central midfielder now. Deco is more creative, Essien is better all round and Ballack is more of a threat in the air and will be able to match Lampard's scoring tally this coming season.
This leaves us with four choices. Rooney, Terry, Ferdinand and Gerrard. Of course, if he ever gets back to full fitness, Gary Neville will be a candidate as well, as would Michael Owen if he gets in Capello's good books, but for now it is these four.
Wayne Rooney has certainly matured a lot since we first saw him. However, he rarely puts in his best performances for England as it is. Be that because of the pressure or whatever it is, the captaincy would just pile a lot more pressure on his young shoulders.
He may be a good man to give the armband to when the first-choice captain gets subbed, but I just can't see Rooney leading us to World Cup glory. Maybe in five years or so, but not now.
John Terry has shown he has what it takes to be England captain, and he is an imposing figure. But do we really want someone like Terry as captain? To me, he is nearly as big a cheat as Didier Drogba, he just does it more subtly. He would be my third choice as captain.
Rio Ferdinand would be my vice-captain. He showed last season what a class player he is. He has strength, speed, aerial prowess, can read the play well, and is good on the ball. Ferdinand would be in my top three central defenders in the world right now. If he carries on going like he is, he could become a great of the game.
I think he bears many resemblances to the great Franz Beckenbauer in his style of play. And if he keeps going the way he is, he may not quite reach the heights the great German reached, but he could get mighty close.
And, perhaps predictably, my number one choice for captain would be Stevie G. Here you have a player who has been England's best player for a few years now, while many others have been under-performing. He has, of course, under-performed in some games as well, but without him, England would be in an even worse position than we are currently.
He is Captain Fantastic at Liverpool and could be the same for England. He leads by example and is hugely inspirational, a driving force behind the team. He will get assists, goals and put in tackles when needed.
You know that he will wear his heart on his sleeve, and if that captains armband was also on his sleeve, he would probably up his performance from 110 percent to 150 percent.
Steven Gerrard is my pick, but who would you want for England captain?
comments (2) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
nice pic.haha. the cheating bugger.
about 1 month ago
gerrard is superb for captain. but terry is having more experience to be captaincy role
write a new comment