Capello narrows captain candidates down to Man United and Liverpool: Who would you choose?
by offsidetrap on June 10th, 2008
| 185 words |
With four months remaining until England’s first World Cup qualification game against Andorra, manager Fabio Capello has hinted that he’s narrowed down the search for the squad’s next captain to two names: Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand.
The Sun is reporting that Gerrard is a slight favourite to take over the captaincy on a more permanent basis due to the fact that he’s a midfielder, and Capello would prefer someone with a more central role to lead the squad out for the first match.
A source close to Capello said: “Fabio is thinking very hard about this decision but likes to see his captains in the middle of the park bossing the game.
“No one has been ruled out but it looks like Gerrard is ahead.” (The Sun)
So it looks like Capello has an opinion on who should carry the armband - and I’m sure almost everyone else does as well.
So what’s your take? Is Gerrard or Ferdinand the right choice to captain the squad in World Cup qualification? Or should Fabio consider giving the armband back to John Terry, or maybe even Gareth Barry?
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Tagged Under: capello, ferdinand, gerrard, World Cup
dave - June 10th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Should be Rio, hes been the most consistent English player in the last season and has performed very well when hes been United captain.
Gerrard, although a great captain for liverpool, hasn’t been a great captain for England when called upon. He’s still a top player and to be honest he doesnt need the added pressure.
Anonymous - June 10th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Since Fab seems to want to play Gerrard out wide, this can only mean Garry Barry is England’s new skipper.
clarko - June 10th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
roy of the rangers aka steven gerrard… sorry for john terry. good job but shouldnt have had it in the first place.
as for rio ferdinand… you must be joking.
if it cant be stevey g then i would probably have to give it back to terry. however i too like my captain in the middle of the park.
steven gerrard deserves this honour.
SIMMO - June 10th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Gerard is a to player but it has to be Ferdinand every day of the week. He has matured as a player beyond all recognition. Ferdinand would make a great international captain.
Thomas Morris - June 10th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Gerrard has been by far the best Captain England has seen for the past 4 years. Hes a great example to youngsters, doest hide behind his manager and does the job on the pitch. He would be the only man that can unite England. He is unselfish and is respected by all. Gerrard IS the right choice for England.
Matt - June 10th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Rio is great for Man U but he seems to struggle with concentration when playing for England and some of his performances have been very questionable. I’m a Liverpool fan so I obviously think Gerrard should be Captain, admitedly his performances haven’t been up to his standards but he seems to have turned the corner with that and looks much better of late.
Rob Barron - June 10th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I definitely believe a captain should be right up with the play and so am not keen on goalies or defenders being the captain. It is far easier for a midfielder to keep his players motivated and the necessary kick up the pants given when needed.
I don’t think Terry is the right person for captain and neither Ferdinand as he is a defender. Gerrard is the man for me, his captaincy at Liverpool is beyond question and you can see the way he motivates his players when needed and I believe he would do the same for England.
Anonymous - June 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Rio Ferdinand????? We’d be an international laughing stock if we made that gormless moron captain. Has to be Stevie G. Capello won’t appoint Terry cos of his attitude towards match officials.
Lucy Mires - June 10th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
If Rio becomes Captain then we will all have been “Merked” or “Punked” what ever the joker said. He is immatture.
You need a true leader who will drive England forward, Pick them up by the scruff of the neck and take them over the finishing line. For this reason it should be STEVEN GERRARD. I am not a Liverpool fan but his performances in BIG game is fantastic, a real example to others!
Dex - June 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
It has to be Stevie for me, as others have said, I like my captains further up the field. I believe that Terry will rule the defence whether he has the armband or not. With Stevie as captain he is able to influence from the center of the park and let’s be honest, the lad is superb.
Abe - June 10th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Stevie G is captain material! Rio is not!
Funkdubious - June 10th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Gerrard all the way, how can you make somebody who flouted the laws of football, missed a drugs test and got a 9 month ban England captain, what sort of message does that send out to the youth of today who are disillusioned enough as it is. I know he’s “served his sentence” but that’s a fairly serious offence. He’s arguably one of the finest defenders around but i think Gerrard is a good leader and would do well for England. I just hope Capello makes the right choice.
Torres - June 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
GERRARD for life
Rud - June 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
It shuold be a midfielder i agree.
Come on Ferdinand cant be captain, no disrespect to him but if terry isnt in the reckoning for captaincy under fabio, then rio certainly isnt as we knwo terry is the better central defender , he’s been consistent with england and chelsea.
Although it is true that gerrard has not been exactly superb for england, but he has shown glimpses of what he can do if given the armband with some of his drives forward and unstoppable goals.
For liverpool, he has been a man possessed ever since having the burden of the armband. I believe the same can happen if he’s given that responsability for england. If not, then just give the armband to someone else !
Matt - June 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I’ll be feeling well “merc’d” if Rio gets it.
Brute - June 10th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
more silent whispers from capello’s staff… apparently he thinks the perfect shape for england is 3-5-2 and want’s to test it during the next friendlies. and this is what he likes as his best 11.
james
brown ferdinand lescott
beckham gerrard hargreveas barry j.cole
rooney
owen/crouch/defoe
i think, in this shape, gerrard would be the perfect captain!
Billy - June 10th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
It’s simple really, Gerrard’s Game got so much bettter when he was given the responcibility at Liverpool.
yes he’s captianed England and hasn’t had the impact on the game like he does at LFC, I think this is for 2 reasons.
1. He always knew it was temp in the past.
2. He had to play with Lamps, with Narry coming to LFC Capello with see them play together and will be unable to split tem for England. I’m not saying Lamps is a bad player before anyone goes off on one, but him and Stevie just cannot play together.
peter archer - June 10th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I’d go for Ferdinand if only he could speak English. Gerrard - definately not. We don’t want his attention diverted from taking the title with Liverpool.
Varun - June 10th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
gerrard da greatest captain ever for liverpool should be england captain for sure………
indonesia - June 10th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
when you see gerrard on a england shirt with the armband in his hand…
Gerrard always play superb, and last Rio being Captain, England Lost…
so, for me Gerrard is The Man….
Alex - June 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
In a captain it is the influence what is needed. Someone who gets people involved and is a match winner. You don’t see Rio doing that. Just look at Istanbul 2005 and Cardiff 2006 for Stevie. You can be 3-0 down at half time and Gerrard still gets everyones heads together and pulls off the unbelieveable. Remember the match winner against Olympiakos aswell.
Pete - June 10th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I’d go with Rio, why not? He’s not the immature player of a few years back and has matured well at Man U. He led the team well to win the two biggest competitions in British club football this season in the absence of Gary Neville and also when Giggs was not in the team. Without doubt he’ll soon be the permanent captain at OT.
And as for JT being a better defender than Ferdinand, no way. I agree that JT is a very good defender but he’s not got the class of Ferdinand. Rio, Gerrard and Rooney are probably the first names on every England team sheet.
Bolo A - June 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I’m not sure about both Gerrard and Ferdinand as England captain! They are both world class players… Gerrard has proved (with Liverpool mostly) that if he’s in the mood, he can totally dominate a game and Ferdinand has proved this year with ManU and England that he’s one of the best defenders around. But for me, Gerrard doesn’t play to his full potential with England… and maybe it’s due to the effects of the Gerrard/Lampard partnership! But in fairness to him, he has been playing more freely and much better since Lampard has been given the boot. However, from Gerrard and Ferdinand, I’d give Ferdinand the slight edge simply because he’s more likely to play 90 minutes of every game… and we just not entirely sure what Gerrard will turn up every game! But… if we can regularly get the consistent Gerrard performances of 2-3 seasons ago for Liverpool, in an England shirt, then I’d give him the armband without any debate!
Funkdubious - June 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I think Pete hit the nail on the head there, Rio was only really captain in the absence of both Neville and Giggs which makes him third choice!
Robbie - June 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
give Becks the armband
matty - June 10th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
if rio was captian i would stop supporting england because he’s a ugly thick bastard
gerrard should be captain
PC - June 10th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Rio is only third choice at OT out of respect for two of the clubs longest ever playing servants. Without doubt over the next year or so both Neville and Giggs will play far less games and Rio will become the club captain of Man U.
Pete - June 10th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Matty - on that basis you’d have to rule out Gerrard, Terry and most of the rest of the squad. They’re not exactly a group blessed with either looks, intelligence or integrity!
jake - June 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
im a liverpool fan but i dont want gerrard as captain with added pressure to perform twice as hard for club and country but i wouldnt give it ferdinand i wud give it to john terry
pretty football boy - June 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Gerrard definately
rio isn’t as good as evry1 makes out to be n he fucks up sumtimes.
evry time gerrard has the ball he gts the opposing teams attention.
he is known world wide n players fear him.
hes commanding n rarely lets his teammates down
1 of the few english players at present tht give 100% evry game
he is perfect for the job
Anonymous - June 10th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Ferdinand a better defender then Terry. Do me a favour, in CL final Terry pulled off one of the best clearence headers I can remember - whilst Ferdinand was down the other end of the pitch suffering from cramp IN THE 65th MINUTE. Maybe it was the two week recuperation break before the game, or maybe the drugs wore off, whatever the reason I expect my national captain to last 90 minutes at least in a football game.
I can’t see why capello would want to remove JT - one of the best club captains around - but if he must then Gerrard all the way - another one of the best club captains around.
Rio - sorry mate you ain’t in the same league.
PC - June 10th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Gerrard is a great, great player - saw him in Cardiff at the cup final against WH and he was unbelievable. without him Liverpool certainly would have lost that day, he was awesome.
Don’t agree that you can rely on him every game though. Have seen many a Liverpool and more commonly England game where he’s not up for it or has disappeared into the background.
An on form, up for it Gerrard as England captain maybe but can we really rely on him in every game? I’m not convinced.
Liverpool fan - June 10th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I’d rate Terry in the same mould as Carragher, good solid defenders but they both get caught out on the turn too often for my liking. Have seen them both skinned many a time by a nippy skillful player running at them. On the other hand, chuck a long ball at them and they’ll both win it at least 9 times out of ten.
Wouldn’t want Terry as england captain anymore though, he’s hardly a glowing example to younger players is he?? Cheating husband, bad bad loser, always whinging at refs, parks in disabled parking spaces - he’s a wrong un!
M.Ali - June 10th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Its without a doubt like the Oscar goes to none other than……..Stevie G! simply bcuz he rules all over the pitch just as he used to do his favoured club which is my favourite too.He is a class above the rest in terms at least in leadership qualities.
ManU - June 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Ferdinand is the ideal captain leading MU in the BPL and CL is example of his ability. More so players will fear and respect him as their captain.Gerard is more sissy like and cannot get much respect from the players because he is not a leader. Remember at Liverpool he was made captain because there was a threat coming from Chelsea to get him and thus Rafa has to convince him to stay by appointing him as captain.
Arran - June 10th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
a captian should be a midfielder, he can see everything and is in the centre of all the play. A captian should be a good rolemodel for younger players, Gerrard isn’t the one who has been in court for doing drugs and isn’t the one speeding in his flash porshe. A captian should play for his club before money, Ferdinand threatend to leave man utd if his wage demands were not met. a captian should not be in the headlines for the wrong reasons. my pint is proven, give it to Gerrard
YNWA
lfcforever - June 11th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
gerrard all the way
Blue Wolf - June 12th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Let Gerrard play his game with no added presure, its got to be John Terry
RJ - June 13th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Rio all the way, less pressure on our Gerrard plus in fairness to the lad he is one of the top 5 defenders in the world, Terry is a just hot headed, you need someone to fight ffor the cause but he just takes it too far with his bully boy tactics on refs
Unwired. - June 13th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Wayne Rooney.