Man United’s star’s calming influence should give him the nod

Football
FanCast columnist Rob
Facey on why Rio Ferdinand is the right man to lead Capello’s England team.

Fabio Capello is expected to name Rio Ferdinand as his permanent captain today for the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign in what could be a significant turning point in English football.
A positive clap and generic bellow of “C’mon lads” doesn’t fit in with the calm and collected style of England’s new boss and Manchester United’s Ferdinand, while capable of this, seems to be one of the coolest heads in the current squad.

Capello will be a different manager to McClaren, naturally. There will be no chummy nicknames. No WAGs on tour. Capello will focus on the bigger picture rather than grinding out narrow, unconvincing victories with no Plan B and naming Ferdinand as captain is all part of this masterplan.

The Italian has this week said that England, along with other European nations such as Germany, Italy and France, struggle with their forward line so that other players, perhaps specifically Lampard and Gerrard, must chip in with their share of the goals.
This hints that he is no longer going to be stuck with the rigid 4-4-2 that has seen England succumb to lesser opponents and run out of ideas fast.

By picking Ferdinand as his captain, Capello has made it clear that the bulldog spirit so often cited as a key attribute of the captain’s role, particularly of the national team, is no longer the top priority. Skill, patience and a more level headed approach to situations are clearly the new order of the day. And who else in the England team embodies these characteristics better than Ferdinand?

"Whoever gets the armband will get the support from all of us from the start," said Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, as reported in The Guardian.

"There are five or six leaders out there and the boys will get right behind whoever it is."

The thing is, in my eyes, there are not five or six leaders in the England squad. Gerrard cannot yet, and possibly never will, command games for England like he does for Liverpool. David Beckham, the captain under Sven Goran-Eriksson, seems to be included out of habit now. Capello must be careful the situation regarding Beckham’s inclusion does not get political again like it did under the two previous managers.
Re-appointing England’s most recent permanent captain, John Terry would not surprise that many people but it seems to be the common thought, correct or not, that considering his role under McClaren, would in some way be a backwards step, celebrating failure.

These three aside, there are only a few other real possibilities? Lampard perhaps? We don’t even have a long term goalkeeper to hand the armband too. Ferdinand it is then.
Of course, the United centre back relies on John Terry and vice versa, neither player looks comfortable at the back with a stand in, but the point is that Ferdinand brings an aura of calm to proceedings whereas Terry, perhaps with Moscow in mind, may seem a bit to prone to play with his heart rather than his head.
Now, for many people that is a good thing, and I am not disagreeing totally, merely pointing out that with a new regime in place a new attitude is required.

The England team is changing for the better and we must embrace this, rather than moan about a lack of emotion and suchlike. Ferdinand is the most sensible choice.