Mirrorfootball.co.uk 10/09/2011
Denied the chance to lead England into the last World Cup, John Terry knows he must keep his nose clean off the pitch to get the opportunity he craves in Poland and Ukraine next summer.
But Fabio Capello did not give Terry the armband back in March on a whim. He did it because he is the sergeant major English players need.
And even though England threw away victory in Podgorica on Friday amid the chaos and carnage of Wayne Rooney’s latest indiscretion, Capello knows that Terry will give his side something they missed in South Africa.
Steven Gerrard may have been England’s best player in the World Cup and his fitness is all the more important now Rooney will be a bystander for at least the opening game in Euro 2012.
Yet the Liverpool talisman is prone to dwelling on himself and his own game, looking to inspire by deed rather than word.
Capello knows, if he did not before the retreat from Bloemfontein and Rustenburg, that English players need something more. They require a man who drives his team-mates on.
The England boss admitted: “John Terry is the captain, a good captain. He is good on the pitch and in the dressing room. He is a leader.”
Yes, leadership. Nobody does that better than the Chelsea skipper. Indeed, statistically, nobody ever has.
Of all England’s established captains, who have led the team more than 10 times since World War Two, and especially in matches that matter, Terry has the highest winning percentage.
Better than Moore and Adams. Better than Billy Wright or Kevin Keegan. Better than anybody.
Terry was not aware of that fact until it was pointed out to him last week, news that brought a smile to his face. It is when he has his serious head on, though, that Terry’s value to England becomes more evident – his determination to do with his country exactly what he has done, so successfully, for his club.
“As a captain you have to earn respect,” said Terry, outlining his personal philosophy on leadership.
“You don’t ask for respect. You earn it. Sometimes it’s not what you say, but what you do. Training hard day-in, day-out and impressing with your performances will earn respect.
“If you’re doing the right things, when it comes to ordering someone about or asking them to give a little bit more, they will give it to you.
“You’ve got to be honest, too. If there’s something to say, have it out and deal with it.
“Sometimes you’re going to be told something you don’t want to hear and you have to take it on the chin.”
Terry has never been scared of a dressing room ruck, the approach that was perceived as nearly mutinous after the dire draw with Algeria in Cape Town.
Capello might have jumped on Terry then but his restoration to the armband suggested he actually wanted somebody somebody strong enough to bounce back if he was knocked down.
The idea, mooted by some, that Terry was a dead man walking as far as Capello was concerned could not have been wider of the mark, as events have demonstrated.
And Terry, clearly, has not been cowed by what happened in South Africa. “If you are the captain, that means setting an example on the pitch with the way you train and the way you play,” he added.
“But for me that vocal leadership on the pitch is what’s essential. I hate losing at training. We’re lucky with Chelsea, and England. We’re the same mould and characters. We hate to lose.”
It is why, this time, he will be Capello’s on-field adjutant.
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