Why Steven Gerrard shouldn’t captain England

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If he were given the captaincy, would Gerrard really be allowed to do the job properly? We only have to look at the last time he led England, at the 2010 World Cup. John Terry cast a constant shadow over his appointment, making his position untenable because his ego couldn’t handle being replaced by Gerrard. Terry was a thorn in his side and leading the team became an impossible task. At Liverpool, the team is built around Gerrard. Every player respects him and looks up to him. They know he’s the main man, as the captain should be, and they would rarely question his judgement or leadership.

This just isn’t the case with England. The national team has never been built around Gerrard. He’s never really been given a run in his favoured central midfield position or even playing just behind the striker. His versatility has seen various managers move him around the pitch to accommodate Frank Lampard, resulting in Gerrard never reaching the same level as he has done for Liverpool.

None of this is his fault. When he captained Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005 he should have been played as a central midfielder and made England captain. When he played predominantly on the right side of midfield the following season and scored 23 goals, including a 40 yard thunderbolt in the final that helped win the FA Cup, the national team should have been built around him. Instead, at the 2006 World Cup that summer, England used him as a defensive midfielder. Okay, he was still the team’s top goal scorer with two goals in what was a disappointing tournament, but imagine what he could have done had he been used more offensively.

People say Gerrard isn’t the type of captain with a fist-punching attitude like Terry but they only need to look back at Istanbul to see him show these attributes. Gerrard is the obvious choice for the England captaincy. He’s a natural leader – on and off the pitch. He’s the most experienced player. And he’s more than capable of repeating his performances as Liverpool captain in an England shirt. But does he really need the hassle? He’s had a few injury problems over the last year or so and, whilst the honour of being the captain of England would be a nice reward for him personally, from a selfish point of view I would prefer him to focus on playing for Liverpool.

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13 Comments

  1. rather he didnt play for eng-er-lund at all, its hard enough to keep him fit enough to play for the REdS , with a Fit Stevie we could win the league..

  2. I’d love for Stevie G to be England captain, but it would have to be a permanent appointment, not as a stand-in, and yes, the team should be built around him.
    Drop Lampard and have holding midfielders like Barry in there to free Gerrard up so he can be at his thrusting, attacking best.
    I thought Capello was finally going to bring common sense team selection to the party when he was appointed. I’ve been sadly mistaken.

  3. He shouldn’t because:

    1. Terry will always cast a shadow.
    2. Terry will regain the captaincy again at some point.
    3. Not the right circumstance / reasons to take the captaincy. It’s like sloppy seconds.
    4. Gerrard has never been properly respected by england, never recognised as the best england player of his generation, and as such always shoved out of position to accomodate FA favourite of the month players. The team should have been built around him.

  4. He should not even play for England after the way the FA stitched-up Suarez……I hope we win the FA cup and KK sends Suarez to get the cup!!!!!

      1. With all due respect, whilst I agree that Suarez isn’t a racist, this article isn’t about him. It’s about Gerrard. My point is that whoever takes over as England captain, they’ll have an impossible job to do with Terry still in the squad. And I don’t think Gerrard needs the hassle, especially if he is to be continually played out of position to make room for other players.

  5. @nick or whoever you are, what bias? just because you are Chelsea (or Terrier)fan doesn’t mean the article wasn’t true.

  6. At least Ferdinand had the self pride to tell Capello what to do with his captaincy and I would hope fervently Stevie does the same.He would be open to continual sniping from JT just like in the past. Stick to Liverpool!

  7. The key point here seems to revolve around Terry. Since terry isn’t good enough to be in the team, and Lampard isn’t even a first choice at Chelsea now, Capello should make Stevie captain and build the team around him.

  8. Gerrard is getting old,he should concentrate on Liverpool,
    forget about England FA,Then are not going to respect Stevie and LFC player from the way they treated Suarez case,England Team will not going to do well ,The FA got to
    mach power to do whatever then one to do, They would not going to care about what the Fans view ,the thing they are big enough to organise football match without Fans to watch.

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