Comments on: Terry Retains England Captaincy

By: Lonnie

Lonnie — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:01:50 +0000

England do not have the best talent pool in the world or Europe. I’d rank the first XIs of Italy and Spain ahead of them, possibly Germany and France as well. That said, they should qualify for the next World Cup and really should have done better in Euro qualifying.

The import obsessed Premier League is doing harm to the English national talent pool but the Premier League’s business is not making the England national team better. It’s business is to generate cash for the owners. With increased foreign ownership, the strength of the national team is of even less concern.

The problems in the English setup are many and complex. For example, just one of the problems is that teams are hamstrung in recruiting English players because of the ‘local lad’ rules that were put in place. The rule states that the club cannot recruit a youth player who lives more than an hour away from the academy.

That’s just one of the problems. There are many others that have been discussed and dissected ad nauseum

By: Kartik Krishnaiyer

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:11:48 +0000

You may laugh but MLS is a totally different animal. It’s not really proper football which is why even the best foreign players have trouble while some weak footballers dominate.

Some players of great quality flop here because of the extensive travel, altitude and poor training facilities. Others who couldn’t even excel at the conference level dominate. You really can never tell with MLS, quite honestly.

By: Django

Django — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:35:52 +0000

But how effective would Gerrard be in MLS?

By: Kartik Krishnaiyer

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:11:52 +0000

Michael you had me until the Gerrard argument. Some guys are simply better club footballers than internationals or vise versa. (Here in the states we have a whole bunch of guys who play better with the national team than with their club sides)

Gerrard, I believe is not even deserving of a place in England’s starting XI. He doesn’t have the quality an attacking midfielder in the international game must have to hold the ball and play with his back to goal. He does not embrace playing out wide where Beckham is anyway. I know this will be wildly controversial and probably make people angrier at me than the initial post but I’d take Lampard in the international game anyday or the week over Gerrard. I even question if Gerrard would be an effective player in Serie A or La Liga: he lacks the basic qualities to play in anything but a distinctly English system. Lampard is a footballer who can excel in a cosmopolitan setup and is better bet for England long term.

The captain should be a center back or keeper. If not Terry, Ferdinand was the obvious choice not Gerrard.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:09:36 +0000

Hate to say it, Kartik, but I’m with Django on this one. Terry isn’t exactly a model citizen and he’s lost it a little bit on the field as well. As Django said, Terry had his chance as captain in Euro 2008 qualifying, and look what he did with it. He’s also hurt way too often.

The captain should be Steven Gerrard, England’s best two-way player. I can’t count how many times he’s put Liverpool on his shoulders and carried them by himself to victory. He stays out of trouble off the field, unlike Terry, and also unlike Terry, he’s still a top notch player on the field. He’s the heart and soul of his club, and you can see it by the way he conducts himself.