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Good morning!

I don’t normally write about England unless it’s the international break but a piece I read by Matt Dickinson in The Times this morning, on Rio Ferdinand’s return to form, inspired me to look at England’s defence and the problems we face for Euro 2012.

For the first time in a long while, Rio Ferdinand has managed to string a number of appearances together, capturing some good form along with it. I’ve never been a huge Rio Ferdinand fan, but I will happily admit that of recent, Ferdinand has been in very good form for Manchester United, just as we approach the end of the current season, with England’s Euro 2012 squad to be chosen just a few weeks later.

In past England squads, under Fabio Capello, John Terry was the first man on Capello’s teamsheet. I do generally trust Italian’s when they pick defenders. Like Rio Ferdinand, John Terry is a great defender, though both come with flaws.

During Ferdinand’s recent run of form, Manchester United were faced with Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League, where we witnessed a high-intensity, fast, attacking Bilbao side rip Manchester United to shreds. Ferdinand was hammered in both legs against Bilbao and offered no answer to the brilliance of Iker Muniain, Fernando Llorente, Ander Herrera and Oscar De Marcos to name just a few. (a quick fun fact: Athletic Bilbao have just one foreign player in their squad of twenty-eight, the rest are Spanish and mostly from the Basque region)

Whilst in good form, Ferdinand is seen there to be ripped apart and has been susceptible to that kind of threat whenever he’s played. A Ferdinand of old will have been able to face up to such a problem with relative ease, but injuries, age and fitness have all impacted on Ferdinand’s career so much, that the former Leeds and West Ham United defender is vulnerable to certain problems.

John Terry is another very, very good defender and whilst it’s easy to dislike the man, I concede he’s a top quality player. Like Ferdinand however, Terry comes with his own problems. John Terry’s best period of his Chelsea career, was when Ricardo Carvalho played alongside him. Terry was always the one out of that partnership who would meet attackers and stop them early, though if that failed, Carvalho had the intelligence and grace to snuff out any threat and under Jose Mourinho, that partnership made Chelsea extremely difficult to beat.

For much of this season, Terry has been paired with David Luiz, a Portuguese defender who likes to pretend he’s a creative midfielder (he does a very good impression to Luiz’s credit) and this has seen some of the worst displays produced by Terry in his Chelsea career. With Luiz here, there and everywhere, Terry has been isolated and when he is, Terry really struggles, especially with high intensity attacks and pacy forwards. Against Arsenal in the last two fixtures between the Gunners and Chelsea, John Terry has suffered against Arsenal’s pressing style and over the past two fixtures, has really struggled to get to grips with Theo Walcott attacking him.

John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are both great defenders, but their individual weaknesses cannot be married together to make a right. A Ferdinand of old may have been able to act as a sweeper to John Terry’s style, but no more. United together, the two are doomed to fail, though alone, one or the other could form a great partnership with another defender.

If one of John Terry or Rio Ferdinand is picked to start in defence for England, then the other has to be dropped from the squad completely. Following allegations placed against John Terry by Rio’s brother, Anton Ferdinand, that the Chelsea defender made racially aggravated comments towards the QPR defender, Rio Ferdinand has been increasingly prickly on the subject of John Terry. It has also been said that Rio didn’t know as if he could shake Terry’s hand in a league match when the two were due to meet.

Pictured as brothers in arms at World Cup 2006, it’s doubtful now that the two can even stand in the same room, let alone play alongside each other in defence. Though you may say they are professionals and would play for the good of England if they were selected alongside each other, the sub-concious is a dangerous thing and who knows what could run through each other’s mind. They may believe they’re playing for the benefit of England, but the sub-concious would prevent them from making 100% the correct decision all the time.

Rather than Capello deal with this headache, it looks increasingly likely that Stuart Pearce will be charged as the man who is required to deal with England’s defensive dilemma. If Capello were in charge, then as Matt Dickinson in The Times says, Ferdinand would find himself sat at home watching England, with John Terry boarding that plane destined for Euro 2012.

If it were one of us making the decision, we would have considered the fact Ferdinand hasn’t played for England in a year and thus doesn’t deserve to take the opportunity of a player who has played in the time Ferdinand has been away from England duty. On the flipside, do we keep John Terry at home on grounds of his racism trial?

For me, the decision to bin John Terry as captain, yet allow him to play for England is ludicrous, it doesn’t solve any problems. Terry should have been withdrawn from any future England squad until his case had been decided one way or the other and been allowed to maintain the captaincy throughout this period. It should be innocent until proven guilty, as it is applied to every other human being who goes through our courts. Such is the sincerity of Terry’s case that it would have been to provocative to have allowed Terry to play for England as his trial went on. Taking Terry’s captaincy however, is a sign that the FA have already found him guilty and not a wise decision to take, but then again, did you ever expect more from the FA?

That of course is another case, though it is unanimous that the FA are a bunch of knuckle-dragging fools. I do believe that John Terry should have been removed as England captain, though only after his trial had taken place, even if he was found not guilty. No England captain should even have his name associated with a racism trial. Bobby Moore would be turning his grave and more than likely would risen from his slumber had Terry been kept on as captain.

With that said, had Terry been found not guilty, he should have been allowed to maintain his right to play for his country. The law itself has declared Terry not guilty and thus, Terry has done nothing wrong and deserves to play for his country. (form providing)

So on on that basis, if John Terry is found not guilty and Rio Ferdinand manages to sustain both his form and fitness, where do we move in regards to team selection? It’s agreed that two can’t play together physically or emotionally. Terry and Ferdinand will most likely never speak again and in football terms, the two are unable to play together due to their individual weaknesses.

So who do we pick? If one is selected for England duty, the other player has to be left out. On form, one of Terry or Ferdinand should be paired with Joleon Lescott in the centre of defence, rather than Gary Cahill. Even though twenty-six years of age, Cahill is still developing in regards to European football and this tournament comes too soon for Cahill. Against Napoli in the first leg, Cahill was hammered by Italian media for his performance and on that basis, I’d rather Cahill travel with the England team, but used as a squad player, rather than being a first-choice player.

That’s your lot from me today. See you in the comments…

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