From Rob Smyth in today's Guardian online.
Terry good, Gerrard better
John Terry won't let anyone down as England captain, but Steven Gerrard would have been a more imaginative choice, argues Rob Smyth
Thursday August 10, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Steven Gerrard: a more imaginative choice. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.
So much for being his own man. Steve McClaren's first significant decision as England manager was so predictable that it would have had Sven-Goran Eriksson nodding softly in agreement.
There is nothing wrong with the choice of John Terry as captain per se: he does the job wonderfully at Chelsea, is a born leader who will kick the catwalk culture out of the England dressing room and whose elevation completes the jigsaw marked 'the new Tony Adams'. But Steven Gerrard would have been a more imaginative, braver choice, and it is tempting to conclude that McClaren has missed an enormous opportunity to get Gerrard playing for England as he does for Liverpool.
As captains they are much of a muchness, although Terry is more visibly vocal and has the advantage of being able to see the game's bigger picture from centre-half. But as players, the influence of the captaincy differs hugely. Terry's performance-level, for the most part, remains constant whether he is captain or not. Gerrard's, by contrast, fluctuates wildly, between the anonymous and the unstoppably in-your-face. When he reaches his volcanic peak, taking personal responsibility for the fortunes of his team, he has the capacity to influence a game like no other player in the world, as his one-man shows in the Champions League final of 2005 and the FA Cup final of 2006 showed.
Yet Gerrard has never shown that form for England. There have been isolated moments of excellence, but he has never swarmed all over a match, rendering the other 21 players virtually inconsequential as he imposes his quintessentially British will to devastating effect. At times his approach has bordered on diffidence, and this was the case long before his chalk-and-chalk partnership with Frank Lampard blunted his effectiveness further.
While it is an oversimplification to draw an exact link between captaincy and Gerrard's performances, it would be similarly unwise to dismiss the connection. In the movie Spiderman, Peter Parker was told that "with great power comes great responsibility". For Gerrard the reverse is true: with great responsibility comes an inner power that, at times, no defence in the world can resist. The captain's armband will not make the object any more immovable, but it could have made the force even more irresistible.
There is also a danger that Terry's past, especially numerous allegations of infidelity that he has denied, may keep the more voracious tabloids in front-page headlines for the duration of McClaren's reign, although most football fans will not care less about that. The other problem is that, unlike Gerrard, Terry is not entirely certain of his place. He might make some judges' world XI right now; so might Rio Ferdinand, but he was dropped less than a year ago. The competition is much hotter in defence than it is in midfield, where it is impossible to imagine any circumstances in which Gerrard would not be selected.
The same applies to Terry now that he has the immunity of captaincy. But whether he can take England to the same heights as Gerrard remains to be seen.
Terry good, Gerrard better
John Terry won't let anyone down as England captain, but Steven Gerrard would have been a more imaginative choice, argues Rob Smyth
Thursday August 10, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Steven Gerrard: a more imaginative choice. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.
So much for being his own man. Steve McClaren's first significant decision as England manager was so predictable that it would have had Sven-Goran Eriksson nodding softly in agreement.
There is nothing wrong with the choice of John Terry as captain per se: he does the job wonderfully at Chelsea, is a born leader who will kick the catwalk culture out of the England dressing room and whose elevation completes the jigsaw marked 'the new Tony Adams'. But Steven Gerrard would have been a more imaginative, braver choice, and it is tempting to conclude that McClaren has missed an enormous opportunity to get Gerrard playing for England as he does for Liverpool.
As captains they are much of a muchness, although Terry is more visibly vocal and has the advantage of being able to see the game's bigger picture from centre-half. But as players, the influence of the captaincy differs hugely. Terry's performance-level, for the most part, remains constant whether he is captain or not. Gerrard's, by contrast, fluctuates wildly, between the anonymous and the unstoppably in-your-face. When he reaches his volcanic peak, taking personal responsibility for the fortunes of his team, he has the capacity to influence a game like no other player in the world, as his one-man shows in the Champions League final of 2005 and the FA Cup final of 2006 showed.
Yet Gerrard has never shown that form for England. There have been isolated moments of excellence, but he has never swarmed all over a match, rendering the other 21 players virtually inconsequential as he imposes his quintessentially British will to devastating effect. At times his approach has bordered on diffidence, and this was the case long before his chalk-and-chalk partnership with Frank Lampard blunted his effectiveness further.
While it is an oversimplification to draw an exact link between captaincy and Gerrard's performances, it would be similarly unwise to dismiss the connection. In the movie Spiderman, Peter Parker was told that "with great power comes great responsibility". For Gerrard the reverse is true: with great responsibility comes an inner power that, at times, no defence in the world can resist. The captain's armband will not make the object any more immovable, but it could have made the force even more irresistible.
There is also a danger that Terry's past, especially numerous allegations of infidelity that he has denied, may keep the more voracious tabloids in front-page headlines for the duration of McClaren's reign, although most football fans will not care less about that. The other problem is that, unlike Gerrard, Terry is not entirely certain of his place. He might make some judges' world XI right now; so might Rio Ferdinand, but he was dropped less than a year ago. The competition is much hotter in defence than it is in midfield, where it is impossible to imagine any circumstances in which Gerrard would not be selected.
The same applies to Terry now that he has the immunity of captaincy. But whether he can take England to the same heights as Gerrard remains to be seen.
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