Captaincy no clearer as Terry, Ferdinand and Gerrard all shine

Filed in archive England on May 29, 2008

I wrote yesterday about the England captaincy and if Fabio Capello was hoping to get a clearer picture of who will be his long term Skipper, last night's game against the USA won't have helped him at all.

The three names in the frame, John Terry, Steve Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand all played last night and all stood out as England's best three players.

John Terry bounced back from his Champions League disaster with a typically commanding display and also added a goal with an excellent, powerful header.

Rio Ferdinand was his usual immaculate self and didn't put a foot wrong all night. Like Terry, he was never under any real pressure, but he couldn't have done any more.

Steve Gerrard was rightly awarded the man of the match award. He was involved in the few things that England did really well and scored a goal with a calm finish following a typical, expertly timed run from the midfield.

Any of these three men could lead England as they all bring different characteristics to the role together with a high level of performance. John Terry is a natural leader and would be so whether he is captain or not. Rio Ferdinand is calmness personified and would be a fine influence on the rest of the side and Steve Gerrard always leads by example.

England are lucky to have three such players vying for the role of captain. All are guaranteed their place in the starting line-up and all have the necessary quality to take England on to a higher level. The problem is with the other eight players!

With the possible exception of Wayne Rooney, would any of the other eight first team players be an automatic choice for any of Europe's top teams? Sadly for England and Fabio Capello, the answer is no. England have four world class players, but after that, things do not look quite so rosy!