Euro Cup 2012: Roy Hodgson Must Leave John Terry and His Drama Behind

Roy Hodgson's tenure as the manager of the England national football team has only just begun, but is already approaching what figures to be a momentous milestone.

Who should join the squad for Euro 2012—John Terry or Rio Ferdinand?

Normally, this wouldn't even be a question. Normally, any Three Lions boss would happily welcome both of the nation's best center backs aboard without so much as a minute's deliberation.

But the circumstances surrounding these two men are hardly what one would describe as "normal," even for a side as circus-like as England's. Terry, the Chelsea skipper, is due to go on trial after the European championships for a racially aggravated public order offense involving Ferdinand's brother, Anton, who plays for Queens Park Rangers.

As such, having John and Rio in the same dressing room would put the entire squad at risk of a total meltdown from the get-go.

If Hodgson's smart, then he'll leave one of them behind and keep Ferdinand aboard.

Few would doubt Terry's merits as one of the best defenders in Europe, even if his most recent performance—against Liverpool on Tuesday—would suggest otherwise.

As good as Terry is, he's hardly vital to England's success. The Three Lions haven't so much as sniffed a title of any sort since Terry first ascended to the senior squad in 2003. That's not to say that such shortfalls are Terry's fault, but rather that he isn't exactly the key to England overcoming its all-too-long history of failure on the international stage.

The greater issue for Hodgson, though, is what a toxic and polarizing personality Terry is and would be if included in the squad. He's already miffed with the FA over the organization's decision to strip him of his captaincy (again), and figures to be met with greater ambivalence from the rest of England's players on account of his own transgressions than would Ferdinand.

Not that Ferdinand is a saint (far from it), but that Terry is a much more blatant "sinner," if you will.

Either way, Hodgson has two difficult decisions to make—which one, between Terry and Ferdinand, to leave off (if either), and who, between Joleon Lescott and Gary Cahill, to take the place of the one left behind—and not much time in which to make them. According to The Daily Mail, Hodgson will finalize his 23-man roster for Euro 2012 on May 16th, so as to be ready for training camp in Spain on May 21st.

But, given the tremendous tumult with which the Three Lions have already been fraught, Hodgson would be wise to minimize any further discomfort by leaving behind the man whose shoulders bear the brunt of that responsibility.

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