The New England Revolution

Well, today has certainly been busy in the world of football. Roy Hodgson has both named his squad to face Norway and Switzerland for the upcoming fixtures, and handed Wayne Rooney the Three Lions armband in the same breath. Along with that, the Champions League Group Stage draw is underway as I type. Liverpool have just been paired with Real Madrid - "Tasty" as Daniel Sturridge has just put it on Twitter.

Hodgson’s selections have been general met with discontent, with neither his choice in captain, or his young squad selection, finding much enthusiasm from England supporters. A record low attendance is expected at Wembley for the friendly against Norway.

But should it be that way? With the retirements departures of messrs Gerrard and Lampard - not to mention Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry in recent years, the England squad has been left painfully thin in the way of experienced on-field leaders. 

Could Roy have realistically opted for anybody other than Wayne Rooney? What were his real options? Let’s take a look..

Joe Hart

The idea of a keeper leading the team out is something that sits uneasy with many footballing people. There have been many iconic keepers throughout time to successfully captain their sides - just look at Gigi Buffon and “Pre-José” Iker Casillas for two shining modern examples.

Hart clearly plays with passion, albeit sometimes allowing his emotions to get the better of him. Despite his No. 1 jersey coming under pressure last season at Manchester City (with a few dodgy TV commercials in the processes), Hart has now experienced two major tournaments with both England and manager Roy Hodgson, giving at least a decent account of himself both in Poland/Ukraine and Brazil. 

During the same period of time, he has won everything you can do, in terms of top-end domestic football in England, including the Premier League twice - taking the competitions “Golden Glove” for three of the last four campaigns.

At age 27, Hart already has enough experience under his belt and has a possible ten or so years left in his career - with many keepers staying on for international duty until they hang up their boots for good. You could even argue that he still hasn’t hit the peak of his goalkeeping career.

Had Joe Hart been picked, he could have provided a stable base for at least the next four major international tournaments from which Hodgson, and any subsequent England managers, could have built this new young team. 

However, when it’s the 85th minute and you are 2-1 down against France, who do you look to drag you kicking and screaming through the shit to urge and inspire his team on? 

Not your keeper, that’s for sure. 

The luxury that modern day Italy and Spain have had in recent years has been in having leaders all over the pitch - willing to do that job as second nature - allowing the goalkeeper to be the perfect figurehead of absolute calmness amidst the chaos. England, as we have been starkly reminded today, do not have that luxury. 

Theoretically, players representing their country should not need their captain to be the driving force that they sometimes can be at club level, but this will no doubt play a large part in the thought process of many when discounting Joe Hart.

Gary Cahill

In Gary Cahill, England have probably one of the world’s most on form defenders over the last couple of seasons, forming an enviable partnership with John Terry. At 28, Cahill is also the same age as new captain, Wazza.

Despite being relatively new to the sharp end of the game (Cahill only joined Chelsea from Bolton in 2012, lifting the Champions League trophy in his first season at the club), Cahill has become an integral cog in the England machine. Under the tutelage of John Terry (arguably the man who should still be England captain himself incidentally), Cahill’s game has certainly gone up a level over the last couple of years. 

His mental game has always been one of cool composure on the field, not often allowing himself to become flustered. It would certainly have been a bold move to hand Cahill the armband, sealing his rapid rise to the top of English football, but it would have shown once again that Hodgson has the balls to make bold choices and back himself. 

Capable of crunching tackles, calmness in possession, and more than an odd goal or two; Cahill would have been the perfect fit to lead the young exciting squad that Hodgson is clearly trying to mould. 

In order to have secured the backing from Hodgson for his captaincy bid, Cahill's performances would have needed to have been supreme. Did his performance in Brazil really stand out so much so that he warrants getting the nod over Wayne Rooney? Perhaps not.

Wayne Rooney

For all Wayne Rooney’s positives points, this decision is quite evidently one that not all fans are happy about. And it’s easy to see why. Rooney is the personification of everything that many people detest about the modern footballer. 

He’s had numerous scandals, both on and off the pitch, and has a terrible temperament at times; picking up a red card for England prior to the Euro 2012 tournament, in a mindless action that meant he missed the first two games of the group stage. He has been caught smoking and partying in the earlier hours of the Manchester night and has, on more than one occasion threatened to leave Manchester United, in an attempt to leverage a new multi-million pound contract - much to the disgust of Sir Alex Ferguson. These actions have safely ensured that Rooney will never be held in the same regard as Best, Charlton, Law, Cantona, Robson, Ronaldo et. al. 

Rooney will never be considered amongst these immortals who’s names are still sang out with love in the Stretford End.

But he works his bollocks off.

On the pitch, there is absolutely no questioning Wayne Rooney’s work rate. He is, in this sense, a shining example of the kind of effort and devotion that is required of an England captain. It has most certainly been a tough couple of seasons for Rooney, with the changing formations of recent times making a traditional No. 10 a difficult fit into the system - something very evident in Brazil. With the coming of RVP to United, he is no longer the main front man - and at the minute they both look to be very much on a sinking ship.

LVG made Rooney Manchester United captain at the start
of the season.

Van Gaal has come into United as the supposed saviour of the club and has in the process, named Wayne Rooney his captain, which might have come as a bit of a nasty surprise to Robin van Persie, who many tipped to be given the honour. However, with their form diabolical in times of late and a mass transitional phase in the offing, Rooney could cut a frustrated figure at Old Trafford for the next few years - if indeed he stays put. Either way, it will certainly be a test of his temperament and maturity.

Rooney has appeared more and more in front of the camera in recent times, becoming the spokesman for the national squad on more than one occasion. He clearly cares deeply about the England side, famously blasting boo-ing fans on TV after the final whistle in Cape Town, following a flat display in a 0-0 against Algeria. 

He is clearly the most experienced man in the side, and in this sense you have to agree with Roy Hodgson that Rooney is indeed “the obvious choice”. During the World Cup in Brazil you could argue that he was barely deserving of his starting slot, and many did - however, this could be put down to the system that Hodgson employed, with Rooney starting out wide on the left flank. 

One thing all England fans will agree on, is that Rooney must now take his game to the next level, both on and off the field, regardless of the position he starts in, if he is to prove himself worthy of  the same title as former legendary England leaders.

It is clear to see why Hodgson has picked Rooney; he is the safe choice. But is he the right one? Time will tell. Hodgson clearly thinks that handing this degree of responsibility, and honour, to Rooney will have a similar effect that it has had elsewhere on some of the world's best strikers, whose international form, like Rooney's, has come under intense criticism. The promotion to captaincy has elevated the performances of Leo Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years. Roy will be hoping for a similar result.

Elsewhere (much) more radical choices could have come in the form of either Jordan Henderson or Jack Wilshere. 

Henderson has shown himself to be of great quality in the centre of the park in the last two major tournaments and has really made the midfield his own; outshining Gerrard comfortably in Brazil. Wilshere, on the other hand, is now likely to gain a few more minutes with Gerrard having retired. Wilshere must earn this spot however. Since bursting onto the stage as a youngster he has yet to solidify his name on the team sheet for both club and country, and this season is probably the most important of his whole career. Injuries cannot be another excuse for Jack. 

Despite this pair looking likely to be our engine-room going forward, they are both fairly unrealistic choices for the captain’s armband, and in this instance, Rooney more than deserves the call over the duo.

The one apparent fact that the instatement of Rooney as captain of both Manchester United and England leaves resonating, is that both club and country are in desperate need of depth and quality. 

The Squad

Goalkeepers; Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart (Manchester City).

Defenders; Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Everton).

Midfielders; Jack Colback (Newcastle United), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Strikers; Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).

With the absence of Ross Barkley and Adam Lallana through injury, coupled with the retirement of Lamps and Gerrard, Hodgson hands four players their first England call ups; Jack Colback, Fabian Delph, Calum Chambers, and Danny Rose. It is pretty obvious that had Barkley and Lallana been available then two of these names would not have been on the sheet.

However, in a period of transition it is important that Hodgson introduces competition for positions, and in bringing in four hungry young players he has guaranteed himself men that will give everything they have in training and, given the opportunity, in a match. 

The main question is; do they have the quality? Certainly all four have started the season strongly. Colback has looked outstanding since making the switch from Sunderland to Newcastle, and Calum Chambers presents us with the first genuinely promising young centre-back since Matthew Upson - all those years ago. In Fabian Delph, England have called up Aston Villa's consistent inspirational spark through the middle of the pitch, having had to endure two years of otherwise pretty dull stuff under Paul Lambert. Danny Rose has flirted with call-ups before, but the dynamic youngster falls somewhat victim of type-cast of the modern full-back - that is to say, bags of pace and exciting going forward, but you could probably choose a better defender. I cannot see Rose inspiring us any more than Kieran Gibbs, Luke Shaw, Kyle Naughton, Kyle Walker, Glen Johnson, etc. If anything, we are inundated with average full-backs. 

PS. It is beyond me how George Friend of Middlesbrough has evaded an England call-up thus far. - he's nicknamed "RoboCop" on Teesside for goodness sake! On a serious note, I would actually keep an eye out for him. A serious piece of talent.

Otherwise the squad is not too different from the one we took to South America, save the addition of Andros Townsend, who looked sharp last season before picking up an injury.

England did not look beyond hope in Brazil. 

Baines and Jagielka were indeed found out at international level, but Cahill and Johnson (in parts) were strong. It is here that Hodgson must focus his attentions. The emergence of Calum Chambers and John Stones looks to be a potential solution to England's defensive frailties, whilst Luke Shaw will slot dutifully into left-back, more or less unchallenged. 

Moving up the pitch, England are packed with fast paced, strong tackling, and skilful young talent. A few more months of refinement will not, require too much change, but players like Jack Wilshere and indeed, the new captain are going to have to take their game to the next gear. Competition for places in the midfield and up front will hopefully keep performance high in these areas of the pitch, and leaders will of course be made in time.

One thing is for certain though; despite early career hype, it is looking fairly likely that Phil Jones will never see the England captaincy, but the outlook for England and it's young squad could be a lot brighter than it currently appears to be.