[CFC1]

Well, it's been announced..... JT is the new England captain

I suppose there are some out there that would take issue with this appointment............

No,hes a great player and a born leader,great choice imo.

[CAS FAN]

I think that he'll be great in the job personally. I would also not have been disapointed to see Gerrard get it but to be honest either of those two would make excellent England captains IMO.

[Mylo]

Brilliant choice, JT is a super player and it seems is well respected by most other players.

[TJNewton]

Wow not only the captain of the greatest team in England but the England captain as well, kinda goes together. Well done JT.

Originally Posted by TJNewton

Wow not only the captain of the greatest team in England but the England captain as well, kinda goes together. Well done JT.

Dont push your luck mate....

[sdb123]

Congrats JT

[ufitsy]

Its a luxury to have 2 good options either of which would be a very good choice.

[Crazy Snake Man]

JT or SG - not often we have a win-win situation!

[overkill]

Good move by England. As above for once we were spoilt for choice in terms of having both Terry and Gerrard as proven leaders.

[CFC1]

Well knock me down with a feather (and hear me scream penalty!).

I thought we would have had some contention from the LFC section by now!

[Emulous]

JT is a good choice but would've preferred Gerrard I think.

Im not a scouse fan but feel that if he was made captain that would have upped his game just like it did when playing for the reds.

Also think that a captain should be in midfield when possible, but when all said and done not the most important thing to worry about.

[JohnG]

It had to be one of them 2 for me as well, both Terry and Gerrard are born leaders in my view and it would be a very difficult decision to pick one of them.
Edit - I think I would pick Terry though because of his time at Forest

[CaptainC]

Yep, would've been happy with either JT or SG. Let's hope our new captain starts bringing some success

[nashb]

It should have been Stevie for me - nice guy n a great leader. JT has bad history behind him.

But what do I know, I only support THE GUNNERS.

[paul9619]

I would have said StevieG.
For England he still is yet to show his Liverpool form and I think that the captains armband would have made him come out of his shell more for England

[Paulie-W]

Great choice imho. JT capt and SG as vice There`s going to be some serious shouting happening on the pitch now

[Marc]

I was hoping it'd be Gary Neville.. thought the extra responsibility might have caused his tache to grow properly but seriously, i'm not disappointed with Terry, but i wasn't with Beckham either, they're both miles apart as people and will both have their own style of captaining. Becks probably did more in the dressing room, and acted like a 'buddy' on the pitch, whereas Terry will probably scream blue murder at his team mates for 90 minutes, both styles of captaining will work well with some players and not with others, the big ego's won't respond well to being yelled at, but luckily at the moment there aren't too many ego's in the team..

[dc007]

I think JT will be the best captain England have had since the great Bobby Moore. Superb leader, a real gee-up merchant who will get stuck in, be vocal, and back his team to the hilt.

The only reservation I have, is I am not 100% sure he's one of the best two English centrebacks suited to international football IF they are all fit...

A fit and focussed Rio IS better. A fit Ledley King COULD be better. Likewise Johnny Woodgate. I know these are contentious views, and I'll add that I think JT is brilliant in the Premiership - probably the best - but international footy requires a little more pace...

All that said, I'm very happy with JT as captain... !

[Ultima]

It had to be either JT or SG. The only reservation that I have is that I am not sure that he is the best defender we have got. Ultimately, i fear, that his lack of pace that will let him down on the International scene. If we have all our Centrebacks fit I think his position would be under threat. SG on the other hand will be playing for England for many years to come.

Martin

[CFC1]

Originally Posted by nashb

......JT has bad history behind him.

Mate, of this there is no dispute!

However, the way that he has turned it all around is a testament to his character & dedication and an example to other wayward youths (most of whom couldn't be arsed to change their ways, thinking that they had made it simply because they made the first team)......

JT is a hero in my eyes!

[rio1981]

In my opinion the best place for a captain is at the heart of defence, the fact that we have someone that's vocal there already, a good organiser and obviously well-respected by hir colleagues means it's an easy choice for me.

I don't see enough in Gerrard to justify being England captain, he's too much of an individual for me.

[CAS FAN]

Originally Posted by rio1981

In my opinion the best place for a captain is at the heart of defence, the fact that we have someone that's vocal there already, a good organiser and obviously well-respected by hir colleagues means it's an easy choice for me.

I don't see enough in Gerrard to justify being England captain, he's too much of an individual for me.

I personally prefer the Captain to be in central midfield (heart of the team) as he can communicate with all the players from there. Gerrard is a great captain for Liverpool and like JT he leads by example and inspires those around him.

Like I mentioned, both are good choices IMO and I would not have been unhappy with either.

[Marc]

there's something to be said for having a captain in either position

in defence, the captain can see the whole team, and see if players *cough* beckham *cough* are straying from formation or if certain players aren't coping with their particular role, but on the downside, the strikers can't really be 'talked to' except at set pieces due to the distance between them and the captain.

in midfield the captain can easily communicate with anyone on the field without having to leave formation, and is more likely to be at the heart of everything the team do, but has to rely on the defence to hold their own since he would be looking forward most of the time.

[CFC1]

Originally Posted by dc007

.......The only reservation I have, is I am not 100% sure he's one of the best two English centrebacks suited to international football IF they are all fit...

A fit and focussed Rio IS better. A fit Ledley King COULD be better. Likewise Johnny Woodgate. I know these are contentious views, and I'll add that I think international footy requires a little more pace...

Ferdinand, King & Woodgate better than JT..... Mate, (with loads of respect!) behave yourself!

IMO JT & Stevie G should be the first names on the teamsheet, then build around them.

Whilst I agree that Ferdinand could possibly be in that partnership, he does a different defending role than JT. JT is a braveheart and goes into headers and tackles that others would not. He is also an excellent reader of the game and his composure and distribution has come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years, to the point that I feel he know equals Ferdinand in that department. IMO all that Ferdinand has is a bit of extra pace that you think is so vital in todays International football.

Far from Woodgate or King being contenders for the position alongside Terry, I would put Jamie Carragher above both of them.

You mentioned the great Bobby Moore. How much pace did he have? Not much, if my memory serves me, but he could read the game like no other and that is a special attribute to have!

[Marc]

i do think ferdinand and terry are the best pairing at the moment, but unfortunately ferdinand is prone to lapses in concentration, and terry is prone to lapses in balance, which makes for a few nervous moments per match, but then isn't that what English football is all about?

[CAS FAN]

Originally Posted by Marc

there's something to be said for having a captain in either position

in defence, the captain can see the whole team, and see if players *cough* beckham *cough* are straying from formation or if certain players aren't coping with their particular role, but on the downside, the strikers can't really be 'talked to' except at set pieces due to the distance between them and the captain.

in midfield the captain can easily communicate with anyone on the field without having to leave formation, and is more likely to be at the heart of everything the team do, but has to rely on the defence to hold their own since he would be looking forward most of the time.

With JT in the heart of defence you can rely on the defensive shape being kept well enough and also a midfield player does not always look towards the opposing goal. I think a captain should be in a position where he is able to communicate better to as many players as possible, rather than be in a position where he can view the whole team in a snap shot. The team has enough experienced players for it to keep it's shape and the manager is the one responsible for making overall tactical decisions.

[dc007]

Originally Posted by CFC1

Ferdinand, King & Woodgate better than JT..... Mate, (with loads of respect!) behave yourself!

IMO JT & Stevie G should be the first names on the teamsheet, then build around them.

Whilst I agree that Ferdinand could possibly be in that partnership, he does a different defending role than JT. JT is a braveheart and goes into headers and tackles that others would not. He is also an excellent reader of the game and his composure and distribution has come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years, to the point that I feel he know equals Ferdinand in that department. IMO all that Ferdinand has is a bit of extra pace that you think is so vital in todays International football.

Far from Woodgate or King being contenders for the position alongside Terry, I would put Jamie Carragher above both of them.

You mentioned the great Bobby Moore. How much pace did he have? Not much, if my memory serves me, but he could read the game like no other and that is a special attribute to have!

I don't dispute that Terry is the best central defender in the Premiership.

I do dispute he's the best English cd in international football. I think there's a difference - the crunching tackles that he is so good at are penalised outside the domestic game. The other names are cleaner tacklers - and in the case of Rio and Ledley, far quicker.

True, Moore was a slowcoach - but pace was far less important 40 years ago.

[lostinspace]

Absolutely no reservations from me about JT, but there wouldn't have been if Gerrard had got it either.
I just wonder whether the apparent fact that Gerrard and Lampard don't seem to be able to play together may just have swung it. After all, if things were going wrong in a game, you could hardly pull the captain off to give Lampard a run.
So far,so good for the new boss. I'll give him another pat on the back if he dumps Beckham altogether- our most over-rated player EVER.

[rio1981]

Originally Posted by Marc

there's something to be said for having a captain in either position

in defence, the captain can see the whole team, and see if players *cough* beckham *cough* are straying from formation or if certain players aren't coping with their particular role, but on the downside, the strikers can't really be 'talked to' except at set pieces due to the distance between them and the captain.

in midfield the captain can easily communicate with anyone on the field without having to leave formation, and is more likely to be at the heart of everything the team do, but has to rely on the defence to hold their own since he would be looking forward most of the time.

I agree - and I'd suggest having Terry as the captain and Gerrard as vice-captain is the best solution, as if McLaren actually uses Gerrard to go forward then he can always be talking to the strikers, whoever they may be...

On another note, on the subject of Rio and his tackling ability - that's not the reason why Rio is there. He's always had that ability to read a game and be in the right place at the right time, and to bring the ball out of defence and pass it well. I think JT and Rio compliment each other really well with their separate abilities.