| Ferdinand still a leader, for now United defender is ready to revert to role as Capello's captain, forcing Steven Gerrard to drop back to deputy for the time beingThe question of the captaincy is engraved on English brains. Perhaps the topic is prominent because only one leader of the national team has ever been presented with a major trophy. A centre-back could hardly have been more photogenic than Bobby Moore so there is an additional reason for people, many of whom were not even born at the time, to keep that 1966 image of him with the World Cup prominent in the picture gallery of the mind.It is unlikely that Fabio Capello suffers from that particular fixation but the England manager understands that his audience does care about this matter. He will have to come to a conclusion shortly now that Rio Ferdinand is fit again to resume those duties if asked. The squad have their first training session this morning ahead of Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro at Wembley and the captain, whoever he may be, is due to give a press conference on Monday.The leadership role is a subject of some significance and the Italian has treated it with solemnity already. For a person of such gravity, the manager could even have been accused of playing to the crowd at the start of his tenure. He might have been hosting a gameshow when, over a series of friendlies, he had Steven Gerrard, Ferdinand and John Terry attempting to demonstrate their leadership. The Chelsea defender was the successful contestant.The subsequent demotion of Terry, following reports about his private life, emphasised that the captaincy is a high office to be treated seriously. It is not entirely an English obsession and he will have appreciated the influence of Franco Baresi, who led the Milan side for 15 years and would also have his time in that role for the national team.No one, for that matter, is blind to the correlation between Franz Beckenbauer's presence and the authority in West Germany and Bayern Munich teams that led to the successes in the World Cup and the European Cup. It does still have to be recognised that illustrious names come to mind because they are relatively rare.If the preoccupation with authority keeps returning in these parts it may also be because England is a society keenly aware of hierarchies. This is, after all, one of those hybrid countries with both a democratic process and a hereditary monarch. Constitutional topics probably don't crop up much at team meetings, but the squad will care who leads them.The simplest answer would be to reinstate Ferdinand. Like Terry, he has an advantage as a centre-half of seeing the whole contest spread out in front of him. Furthermore, organisation and communication are at the core of a defender's being.Ferdinand still has a particular difficulty. Sir Alex Ferguson has relieved him of a Manchester United captaincy that has been transferred to another centre-back, Nemanja Vidic. The principal factor in that decision would presumably have been anxiety about the back-related troubles of the Englishman.As it happens, however, Ferdinand has lately started two games in quick succession for United, contributing to the side's clean sheets against Valencia and Sunderland.Given such a context, it would seem impulsive of Capello to abandon the arrangement this week. In the longer term, though, the candidacy of Gerrard, captain in the two qualifiers in Ferdinand's absence, will have to be examined. Since last season the decline of Liverpool has accelerated but he has not been dragged down in the process. Gerrard has scored half a dozen goals this season, including two for his country, and at Old Trafford converted a penalty as well as scoring in open play. At 30 the dynamism has flagged to some degree, but a little reflectiveness may be valuable even if he only pauses to catch his breath.Men who can lead on the field and beyond, whether by example or instruction, are prized. Those with the right attributes are rare and it seems ridiculous that Wayne Rooney was captaining England, against Brazil, less than a year ago. Perhaps Capello should count himself lucky that he still has more than one contender.EnglandRio FerdinandSteven GerrardJohn TerryKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Czech Republic v Scotland: Craig Levein out to consolidate Euro 2012 gains Craig Levein would take a point in Prague to consolidate his Euro 2012 gains. telegraph.co.uk |
West Brom 2-1 Fulham West Bromwich Albion's giddy rise up the table continues. Temporarily at least they are in a Champions League position following a victory rather more convincing than the score may suggest, and while they cannot play Fulham every week – the visitors faded badly after the brightest of starts – the Baggies have already shown they can compete with teams at the top by winning at Arsenal and drawing at Manchester United.Fulham sprang a surprise even before kick-off by unveiling a perfectly foul away strip, an almost military shade of olive that made some of Liverpool's experiments with the green stuff appear well-judged. Then they surprised their hosts by taking the lead in the ninth minute, when Mousa DembĂ©lĂ© helped set up Zoltan Zera for a shot and the former Hawthorns favourite scored from 20 yards thanks to one deflection off an upright and two off the unlucky Scott Carson.Actually that does neither party any favours. It was a good shot by Gera and a terrific, full-length diving save from Carson. Unfortunately for him his fingertips diverted the ball on to a post and the rebound went in off his back, so technically that counts as an own goal as the ball was rebounding outwards before he sent it back across the line.It is a hard life being a goalkeeper, and life nearly got harder still for West Brom when Diomansy Kamara struck the foot of the same post four minutes later. This time the ball did rebound to safety. Even the Baggies' new-found confidence may not have survived going two goals down at home in the first 15 minutes, heroic recovery at Old Trafford last week or not.As it was, the home side kept calm and played their way back into the game, drawing level when Chris Brunt's clever diagonal pass allowed Youssouf Mulumbu to slide a shot under Mark Schwarzer. Brunt's pass was originally intended for Marc-Antoine FortunĂ© but West Brom found themselves with an attacker to spare, and Fortune sensibly allowed the ball to run on to an even better placed colleague. Jonas Olsson saw a header comfortably cleared off the line by Stephen Kelly before FortunĂ© gave his side the lead just before the interval. More crisp and incisive passing sent Jerome Thomas to the goalline, and from his pull-back it was a simple matter for FortunĂ© to sidefoot into a largely unguarded goal from close to the penalty spot.With Thomas enjoying himself against Kelly on the right West Brom were completely in charge in the second half and should have added to their lead. FortunĂ© failed to take a decent opportunity before being substituted, Paul Scharner brought an excellent save from Schwarzer and Thomas should probably have had a penalty when Kevin Friend rather generously decided Kelly had won the ball in bringing him down. James Morrison could have done better with a clear route one opportunity after beating the Fulham defence to a Carson punt upfield, and Roman Bednar could not quite get on the end of Somen Tchoyi's cross in stoppage time.Mark Hughes will not have been happy at the way his side barely managed to mount an attack after the interval, even after introducing Andy Johnson. Only in the closing minutes did Fulham throw caution to the wind and get bodies across the halfway line, and even then they did not cause a well-organised Albion defence much trouble.Premier LeagueWest BromFulhamPaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
West Ham United v Newcastle United: live Follow live commentary of match between West Ham United and Newcastle United with the scores level at 1-1 at the break. telegraph.co.uk |
Arsenal Win 3 - 0 as Early Red Card Hamstrings Man City LONDON (Reuters) - Arsenal, with Cesc Fabregas back pulling their strings, took full advantage of an 85-minute one-man advantage when they beat Manchester City 3-0 in a bruising Premier League battle at Eastlands Sunday. feeds.nytimes.com |