London: Wayne Rooney is desperate to take over the England captaincy from -Steven Gerrard as Roy Hodgson, the manager, ponders his next move.
Gerrard confirmed his retirement from international football on Monday, leaving Hodgson the task of appointing a new captain ahead of the 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign, which starts against Switzerland in September.
Hodgson has been on holiday, but had already spoken with his backroom staff of Ray Lewington and Gary Neville about who the next captain might be if Gerrard retired. Frank Lampard was vice-captain to Gerrard, but he too is expected to retire from international football after leaving Chelsea and lining up a move to New York City that could also include playing for Melbourne City.
Rooney was third in line for the captaincy at the World Cup and has already made it clear to Hodgson that he would relish the chance to be given the armband. The 28-year-old is the front-runner to take over the role, ahead of the goalkeeper Joe Hart and the defender Gary Cahill, but Hodgson is yet to make a firm decision.
Rooney and Hart were sent out to face the media after England’s exit from the World Cup had been confirmed. That could point to the Manchester United star being captain, with the Manchester City keeper as his deputy. Hodgson was impressed with the way Rooney coped with debate over his position in Brazil and rated the striker as England’s best player in the tournament, having set up a goal and scored one.
Rooney was also given far more media responsibilities by the Football Association and coped well with questions over his fitness, his position and his World Cup goalscoring record. The fact that Hart is a goalkeeper may count against the 27-year-old and there are fears inside the England camp that he could lose his City place this season, following the signing of Willy Caballero.
Hodgson is acutely aware that, having assembled a young squad, he does not have many options for the captaincy. He is expected to return to work in the next fortnight and will have a month to settle on England’s next captain ahead of the September 3 friendly against Norway and the European Championship qualifying trip to Switzerland five days later.
