Being skipper means the world to me

Steven Gerrard is the most unlikely of forgotten players. If his performances were not vivid enough, the record books confirm that he has won some of the highest individual awards at domestic and European football. Nonetheless, he does not look currently like a man enjoying his status among the elite.

It is improbable that the midfielder will be feeling complacent this evening simply because he is captain for the friendly with Egypt. The post is his because John Terry has been stripped of the armband and an injured Rio Ferdinand cannot do it. There is nothing to distract Gerrard from the truth that this is a season of hard toil.

(The Guardian)

Gerrard's statements:

"I don't think we make too much of the captaincy. To be captain of England is a very proud feeling. Every kid dreams about it and I was no different."

Capello has said that in other countries the job usually goes to the team's oldest or most-capped player.  But Gerrard begs to differ on the subject and said: "If you did that it would be disrespecting the captaincy. "It's massive over here, and rightly so. I don't really care what other countries think about it. You have to earn the right to be England captain.

"When I joined up a couple of days ago and Fabio told me I was captain, I was delighted and looked forward to leading the boys out. The manager has made the decision to take the captaincy off John and you have to respect that. It's a tough job being the England boss and you've got to make big decisions. He has done that and we all follow."

Gerrard knows what it is like to be on the wrong end of one of those big decisions. He was Capello's very first skipper against Switzerland, which made him favourite to get the armband full-time. But it was felt he did not show the same leadership qualities that he displays at Liverpool.

Now Gerrard has another chance to prove he has what it takes with new permanent skipper Rio Ferdinand missing through injury. He said: "Rio has been put in to become captain and in an ideal situation, if he's fit, he's a massive player for us. He's got a back injury but, fingers crossed, he'll be fit for the World Cup. There is much talk about how important Wayne Rooney is for this team but Rio is no different, he's vital."

So what effect has Terry being axed as skipper had on the Chelsea defender himself and the rest of the squad? "I expect JT to be himself, a very good player and a majestic leader out there," added Gerrard. Even if he hasn't got the armband, I expect him to be a captain in the dressing room and out on the pitch. But the spotlight is on us all, even more so the closer you get to the World Cup. We must accept that and deal with it."

(The Sun)