Terry good Gerrard Better .

[Courtney]

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

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=140 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD>
Steven Gerrard: a more imaginative choice. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><DIV id=GuardianArticleBody>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.

<SCRIPT language=javascript type=text/javascript> </SCRIPT><DIV class=MPU_display_class id=spacedesc_mpu_div><DIV class=mpu_continue>Article continues</DIV></IMG><HR class=mpu><DIV id=spacedesc_mpu_iframe><IFRAME title=Advertisement marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/html.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&amp;spacedesc=mpu&amp;site=Fo otball&amp;navsection=88&amp;section=103&amp;count ry=jam&amp;rand=4733222" frameBorder=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250> </IFRAME></DIV><HR class=mpu><A name=article_continue></A></DIV>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 hi

[Lazie]

RE: Terry good Gerrard Better .

I for one thought Gerrard deserved it.

[Balla]

RE: Terry good Gerrard Better .

What a load of crap - "But whether he can take England to the same heights as Gerrard remains to be seen. " - where has Gerrard taken England before ?

McClaren had to make a choice and either would have been good.

I think Terry tips Gerrard as a more successful Captain at club level