Who should be England captain?

Who do you think should be made the permanent leader of Fabio Capello's side?

John Terry has experience as captain of the national team and impressed in the role against the United States, but Rio Ferdinand is favourite to get the job. Perhaps tellingly, unlike the Chelsea defender, the Manchester United captain has been retained in the squad to face Trinidad & Tobago.

Not for the first time, though, Ferdinand put in an absentminded performance during the 2-0 victory at Wembley last night. Can England afford to have a leader who makes occasional silly mistakes?

Steven Gerrard was in the frame but has been all but written off since his audition against Switzerland, while reports suggest Gareth Barry will be given the armband in the Caribbean on Sunday.

After Sunday, Capello has only one friendly with which to experiment before the World Cup qualification campaign begins. Who should lead the side then? Let us know in the comment box below.

Comments

[John.]

Ferdinand is central to the field of play and a calm and classy player. He should be Captain

[Ruth]

Simple - Gareth Barry. Someone dignified and grown up. Not an over paid prima donna.

[Russ]

Rotate the captaincy by picking on a per match basis. That way you can always drop the big names and it not matter. The captaincy is an over hyped position in England which leaves the media in a frenzy. Remove the specialness of it and it will reduce the speculation and show that one player is no bigger than the team.

[Peter Coates]

Simple, don't have one, they don't do any good, not for England anyway. The coaches spend all the time on the sidelines giving detailed instructions and every rolling around on the ground feigned injury which England are starting to develop some mastery of, is an opportunity for more instruction. Don't even bother with the toss it also makes no difference as weather and wind conditions play no part now. Swapping little flags at the start, waste of time. Shaking hands with the ref - only a prelude to abusing them for the next 90 minutes, current England captains and the proposed mob are the worst offenders at this. Any way enough of this - you won't be missed in Europe where i now am to watch the best teams play in Euro 2008.

[Paul]

Gerrard for me, and build the team should be built around this outstandingly driven and gifted player.
In all my years of watching football, I have never seen a better captains performance than his second half display in the the 2005 Champions League final.
Capello's indecision is degrading the honor of the England Captaincy in these friendly games. There is no pressure in these games so how could a potential captain prove his worth? In Terry's last game, he failed to come up with the goods in the final hour, and then cried like a baby afterwards. A true leader is too emotionally tough to let himself cry in front of millions of people.

[GAURAV KHANAL]

well i think central defender is the right person to hold the captain's armband, and jt is much better, as a player and a captain, choice to give the captaincy. he is a natutal leader, he has that inborn talent, and the best thing about him is that he is a chelsea man!!!

[TRISTAN]

coming from an arsenal fan, gerrard first choice.

[Warren Freeman]

I think Rooney should captain,... he has the personailty for it,... hard work and determination.

[Matt McGuigan]

HARGREAVES. Capello should build the team around him. Hardworking, selfless, adaptable on the pitch (and takes a superb free kick). Articulate, intelligent, modest off it. Leadership by example. Perfect choice for a better, more mature England team.

[Jordan]

gerrard 1st choice
beckham 2nd
ferdinand 3rd

john terry n lampards name shouldnt be mentioned with the captain role

[Janusz]

I think Rio has been superb for the last two seasons, both as a defender and as a leader of the Man Utd squad. He deserves to be the England captain not only because of his footballing skills, which as the WC 2006 showed are superior to JT's, but also for the leadership qualities he has shown in the absence of Gary Neville. Plus, I want more & more wind-ups:)

[alf]

Im going with the person with the most caps. I mean spains cap. is related with caps (Iker Casillas) why shan't england? in this case D. Beckham has the most caps and is former cap. no doubt. capello would be stupid not to choose Beckham as cap.

[Richard]

I think that if Beckham is to be a permenant fixture in the side then he should be captain. If not then Terry. Both are experienced in the role and the passion is there for all to see.

[malcolm]

Without a doubt Gareth Barry. He has shown his maturity by being ignored by Ericson for four years and just getting on with it, by rising above the situation Liverpool have created with his present team and by being an inspirational team captain.

[Anze]

terry, 2nd choice would be gerrard.

[Ian]

Does it matter?

[Martin]

As a Norwegian, I naturally lack the complete understanding of the cultural significance of the captain’s position in the England team. On the other hand, the exact same discussion takes place regularly for the Norway team, and I believe this to be a fairly universal problem.

Generally one thinks every managers dream must be having a player that effectively hinders any discussion on the subject, a Platini, a Zidane, a Beckenbauer, a Hagi to name a few. A player with qualities and a level of consistency that makes a team without him almost unthinkable. A player that starts every single game, and is only substituted due to injury or at 3-0 up in the 85th. But having such a player, also means that the managers options are fewer, and usually makes the performance of the team too dependant of this player. He will leave a proportionate gap whenever he is not present due to injury, suspension or lack of form.

For the captain discussion even to exist, the natural conclusion is that England does not possess such a player at the moment. In my opinion, Capello is doing the right thing with his rotation policy. I also don’t see why he has to discontinue this policy.

Along with many of my countrymen, I have followed English football since childhood in the early seventies, adopted the English national team as my own, and therefore presented with a real problem (or win-win-scenario…) whenever Norway and England meets. I am of course very much an outsider, and as an outsider, I think a lack of a natural captain actually is part of the England strength, and adds considerably to the international following and respect.

For me, England has always been the definition of a team in the right sense of the word. It consists of multiple could/should-be captains with a wide array of different specialties, who work together as a team, with none more important than any other. In contrast we have other great teams, some of them world champions, with a crystal clear leader and a team, to be a bit ugly and even unfair, consisting of support players, like -70 Brasil and -86 Argentina. But why pursue this latter format?

I believe that Capello is on to something with his rotation policy, however culturally unprecedented it may be. The captaincy will perhaps loose a wee bit of status, but still be a enormous honour for any player, as there seldom are more than 4-5 players providing the usual suspects for the armband. It may even make these players, and also those just below this status feel more of responsibility. If Capello continues to choose a captain for a particular game, and the given team for this game, it means that he can choose more freely from the players, not risking the inevitable scandal of not playing the captain.

This solution seems even more perfect for England than before, due to the myriad of options he has in midfield. I believe firmly that the captain ideally should be a midfielder, but this way, if Capello suspects that substitutions in the midfield is a likely option for a particular game, he elects a defender or a forward for the captaincy.

[Conan]

John Terry or Gareth Barry for captain. Rio was a complete prat in the game against Chelsea and looked like a right psycho. Since Cappello came you can see that JT has been more sensible. Whenever things go against Chelski, he doesn't just run over to have a go anymore.

[Phil]

Ferdinand. He's captained the English Champions often enough, that experience will be invaluable.

[Andreas]

Pick somebody who has a real chance of winning something with England in his lifetime: Rooney

[collette wighton]

John Terry. 100% passion and commitment. Inspirational leader.

[Timothy Tanner]

I think the captaincy might hamper Gerrard and would rather it didn't go to a player who doesn't understand the need for tactical discipline. Beckham wasn't a bad captain but don't think he will get it, Rooney is an angry thus not a captain, Barry maybe. Terry is a decent captain but think it should go to Rio Ferdinand, our best defender for years as he was against USA, captained Man U enough times and cutting out on the silly errors. He can help youngsters avoid the stupid things he did.

[ian s]

How wan you lift spirits in the dressing room, when it is YOU who have slipped and missed a penalty. A natural leader lifts the spirits, yes, but does it for 90 minutes ( or 120 ). not after the last last game of the season, when he misse the chance of winning the most important game his team ever played. Real captains bring the team forward, everyone reffers to him, everyone is inspired by him, everyone is united around him.

[redwan]

my selection will be as following:

Steven Gerrard 1st choice
John Terry 2nd choice
Gareth Barry 3rd choice
Rio Ferdinand 4th choice
---

As a leader:
1st - the one which the team have more respect & understand on him.
2nd - he must have the strong team spirit. the drive to fight and win.
3rd - capable of control the team in the case of argument.
4th - fair decision maker.

cheers.

[Aditya]

Definitely john terry good reader of game great character and natural leader.... else Hargreaves rise to the occasion but his injuries are a huge problem