Steven Gerrard

has retired from international football (he must have seen my tweet suggesting as much). Bring on the youngsters!

intercourse off the England team. Just about every England team just intercourse off.  Cricket, football, flipping tiddlywinks you're all just useless illegitimates.

Top Premiership player
Average international player

114 caps.........ridiculous.

Who would you choose as captain ? Hart ? Cahill ? Rooney ?

cahill, who else is there

Hart is a very good shout IMHO. But, the system as a whole needs changing for England to succeed.

I wouldn't have/name a permanent captain. Just choose someone to be captain each time they pick a starting eleven for a game.

Quoted from Tommy

I wouldn't have/name a permanent captain. Just choose someone to be captain each time they pick a starting eleven for a game.

Would you do that at club level?
You need some sort of regular seniority at player level, chopping and changing would complicate things and divide loyalties, obviously IMO

Quoted from Green27

intercourse off the England team. Just about every England team just intercourse off.  Cricket, football, flipping tiddlywinks you're all just overpaid useless illegitimates.

I'm absolutely gutted he's retiring from England he's been a hero of mine ever since growing up ! You can all sit there slagging him off because they never achieved anything while he was in the England team but as Germany proved it takes a team to achieve thing not a group of individuals ! Thank you gerrard for your service !

Quoted from Bignic69

Would you do that at club level?
You need some sort of regular seniority at player level, chopping and changing would complicate things and divide loyalties, obviously IMO

Club football is very different to international football though.

The team is forever chopping and changing anyway with friendlies and players losing form. Nobody in the current England set-up is so good that they should be given the guarantee of starting which is what the captaincy would give them.

Too much importance is placed on who wears the armband in this country with our national team IMO. What we need is some leaders on the pitch, it's irrelevant whether they have the armband or not. Last.season Pearson and Kerr were leaders for GTFC, they didn't hold back because they didn't have the armband on.

At one point in the 90's or early 00's England had 5 or 6 players in the England side who were captains of their clubs. Guys with strong characters who were leaders whether they were the captain or someone else was.

Gerrard never really showed his best form for England because, unlike at Liverpool, he didn't have any intelligent holding players alongside him as he was doing the lungbursting run stuff that was his forte. At his best, he was very, very good and a potential game-changer with his goalscoring ability and drive, but he's lost his physical power and pace with age. He wasn't really suited to the holding-type role he attempted to play this summer (and it showed), but it is damning of English football that there weren't any younger central midfielders competent enough to take his place in that role.

Similarly, Lampard was an excellent attacking midfielder for Chelsea, when playing alongside good holding players. As a pairing with Gerrard when they were both in their prime, it was pretty hopeless, as neither knew their role and neither could do the defensive part of the game well enough.

Unfortunately, you'd have to say that things aren't looking good for the England midfield in the immediate future as neither Henderson or Wilshire seems to have the ability to become a top-level defensive midfielder and there are really very few other options on the horizon. Barkley looks like he will be a good attacking midfielder who will do well alongside intelligent foreigners at his club, but I fear he will fail to impress for England in the same way that Gerrard and Lampard tended to do.

I think it's generous to say Gerrard even achieved "average" status for England. He has been incredible for Liverpool, a true legend for them and for the Premier League. But he has been truly awful for England since the 5-1 win in 2001. It is impossible to name one game against a top 20 ranked side that he played well in.

The 2004 & 2006 QF games against Portugal he was totally anonymous and easily outshone by Owen Hargreaves. Let's not forget the through ball to Henry in the group stage for France.

2010 - it's true that everybody was awful in that tournament, but does't excuse Gerrard being garbage.

2012 - His best tournament for England where he did ok in the group stage but once again was invisible against Italy.

2014 - Probably England's worst player.

Yeah great club player very average international his best game for England came against Trinidad and Tobago says it all really, I'm not going to include the England v Germany game based on the fact town would of beat them that day they was so poor.
And all those caps don't make him an England great a lot of international games these days are pointless friendlies plus his selection was based on countless weak managers picking the so called big names that's why he could of carried on playing under Roy.
Gerard did nothing of note which is why in 20 years he will be forgotten about no one will remember him as an England great.
Who's next Lampard?

Admirable captain.Sad to see him leave the England fold

I will really miss those cross- field Hollywood passes that almost reached their target.

As others have said, great for Liverpool but did next to nothing for England and was well and truly found out when it mattered gainst top nations. Sadly I don't think there is anyone better waiting in the wings.

Like you say PSG there's nothing coming through . I fear we will drop in the rankings never to return . However the top 6 premier sides will still buy foreign players to ensure its club over country and their supporters will be happy with that

Quoted from Tommy

I wouldn't have/name a permanent captain. Just choose someone to be captain each time they pick a starting eleven for a game.

Agreed, don't really understand why there's such an issue around an armband.

Quoted from Tommy

I wouldn't have/name a permanent captain. Just choose someone to be captain each time they pick a starting eleven for a game.

But isn't what they do anyway? if the nominated captain isn't playing then someone else would be captain.

The default/nominated captain also does press conferences I believe.

Rooney will sulk if the armband is not given to him.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Rooney will sulk if the armband is not given to him.

He`l get a clog up his r se from his gaffa if he does