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Beckham's bitter-sweet memories as England captain
By Tim Rich (Telegraph.co.uk)
Updated: 2005-11-10 09:35
Adams backs Terry to take Beckham's role
Chelsea's captain
John Terry reacts during their English Premier League soccer match against
Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, northern England,
November 6, 2005. [Reuters] | Tony Adams has urged
Sven-Goran Eriksson to find the courage to appoint John Terry as England captain
in place of David Beckham.
Beckham will make his 50th appearance as England captain against Argentina in
Geneva on Saturday but Adams is hoping it will also be his last.
Adams, whose aggressive style of captaincy helped England to the semi-finals
of Euro 96, believes Terry's similarly inspirational qualities are needed to
drive England's World Cup campaign.
"David is the captain at the moment and Sven has made that decision and he's
got his reasons for doing that," said Adams, talking at the headquarters of
England sponsors Nationwide.
"It's very similar to back in 1996 when David Platt was the captain and Terry
Venables made a very tough call at the time and transferred the captaincy over
to me because of the effect it had on the team."
Adams believes Terry is a natural leader, and that Eriksson has to be
prepared to upset Beckham. "Some people are natural captains," he said. "If it
was for tiddlywinks I'd be captain, and it's the same with John. I would imagine
that every team that John has ever played for made him their captain. Sven's got
a big call and I hope he is strong enough to make that decision if needed, and I
hope personalities don't stand in the way."
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