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The Liverpool midfielder is more than happy with his form as he prepares to lead out England against Egypt

Steven Gerrard is the most unlikely of forgotten players. If his performances were not vivid enough, the record books confirm that he has won some of the highest individual awards at domestic and European football. Nonetheless, he does not look currently like a man enjoying his status among the elite.

It is improbable that the midfielder will be feeling complacent this evening simply because he is captain for the friendly with Egypt. The post is his because John Terry has been stripped of the armband and an injured Rio Ferdinand cannot do it. There is nothing to distract Gerrard from the truth that this is a season of hard toil.

Liverpool are advancing in the Europa League, but the gruelling priority is to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Dwindling numbers record the toll being taken of Gerrard. He has scored on eight occasions for his club so far in this campaign. Over the two previous seasons he scored a total of 45 goals for Liverpool.

The player himself would hardly need to read the statistics. He has felt the struggle in his bones, but is too frank to pin all the blame on aches and pains. “I suffered with a couple of injuries and with a bit of confidence with my form throughout the season, which I’m over now,” he admitted.

That emphasis on a recent resurgence is not wishful thinking. Gerrard’s goals against Unirea Urziceni and Blackburn last week saw him score in consecutive matches for the first time in this campaign. “The last six or seven games, I’ve been really happy with my form,” said Gerrard.

At a time when many are fragile, it will encourage Capello if the midfielder is rediscovering his dynamism. The jibes about “Stevie Me” are not merely tedious; they also miss the point that his individualism can have a high value. Gerrard may not control matches but he can decide them and that will always be a precious quality.

The England manager has striven to give the player licence. Gerrard enjoys the scope that comes with a relatively free role from an attacking position towards the left. With the World Cup finals in sight, the moment has come to make more of that post.

Following the upheaval and bad publicity that ended with Terry being relieved of the captaincy, it is a priority, too, for Gerrard to challenge the idea of impending doom. He would, for instance, have nothing to do with the suggestion that injury to Wayne Rooney would be the end of England. “What does that say about the rest?” Gerrard snapped. “Are we all crap then?”

Within a moment he was diplomatic once more on the topic of Rooney. “On current form he’s the best in the world,” said the midfielder. There has been an effort by the manager to emphasise the responsibility that these famous players should bear.

Gerrard confirmed that Capello had addressed the squad on Monday. “It was short and sweet,” said the midfielder, “and he told us to focus on the football. He reiterated that we have responsibilities both on and off the pitch.” The demotion of Terry was a reminder, if anyone needed it, of Capello’s trenchant ways. “It’s a tough job being the England manager,” said Gerrard, “and you’ve got to make big decisions. He’s done that and we all follow.”

The player appealed for there to be no booing of the former captain tonight. Even the Terry imbroglio should recede as the World Cup finals fill everyone’s gaze. This evening’s game ought to remind everyone of the necessity of concentrating on the work in hand. Egypt neglected to qualify for the tournament in South Africa but they still stand 10th in the world rankings, a place behind England. With the triumph in January, they have now taken the Africa Cup of Nations three times in a row.

There cannot be any naivety left in Gerrard, who first led England six years ago, but the captaincy is an honour still filled with meaning for him. If this country makes more than most of the position, that is a tradition full of merit in the player’s mind.

“Every kid dreams of being England captain,” said Gerrard. “I was no different. I don’t really care what other countries think about the captaincy. You have to earn the right to be England captain. It’s disrespecting the captaincy [to simply give it to the oldest or most capped player]. It’s massive over here, and rightly so.”

Gerrard wanted to convey a tone of seriousness and said that his wife would not be travelling to the World Cup unless England reached the semi-finals. “Is that OK with you?” he said sardonically to the press. That was the smallest of barbs, yet it indicated how embattled and, indeed, irritated footballers have become since John Terry’s conduct made the headlines.

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Fabio Capello looks set to plan for England’s friendly with Egypt next week having to install yet another captain after Rio Ferdinand’s latest injury scare.

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Rio Ferdinand has stepped up to the job of England captain after Fabio Capello stripped John Terry of the honour following damaging allegations about his private life.

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Rio Ferdinand has stepped up to the job of England captain after Fabio Capello stripped John Terry of the honour following damaging allegations about his private life.

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(Reuters) – Factbox on Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who was appointed England captain by manager Fabio Capello on Friday.

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The Manchester United striker has not given up hope of being called up for the summer’s World Cup in South Africa

Michael Owen knows the question is ­coming. It always does. “England, ­England, England,” he says, with sadness and affection, as if talking of a far-off place. The intelligence that has always burned behind his diplomatic exterior confronts its biggest test when the conversation turns to Fabio Capello’s policy of ­excluding the country’s fourth-highest scorer from the England squad.

With the World Cup less than six months away time is not so much running out as dashing by like a train as Owen, with his 40 international goals and 89 caps, formulates a method for dealing with the disappointment of being overlooked since March 2008, when he made his only appearance for Capello. The battle in him is between acceptance and hope.

“England’s bigger than Michael Owen anyway. But I make sure I’m in a mind-set that if I did have to pack my bags to go to South Africa I’d be right with it,” he says. “I’ve watched all the games. I know what the manager is looking for, even though I’m not there listening. For example, I ask Wayne [Rooney, his Manchester United team-mate], ‘What does he expect when you’ve not got the ball?’ So I have to stay in with it without thinking I’m part of it, because I’m not.

“I’d love to go and I’d love to play for my country and go to a World Cup again. I’ve got to accept I’m not in the ­current squad and just think, ‘If I get it, it’s a bonus and I’ll give it everything.’ But it’s hard to do when you’ve been thinking a different way all your life.”

Owen’s defining characteristic is ­resilience. The hardness that helped make him the teenage star of England’s 1998 World Cup side was apparent in his move last summer from Newcastle to ­Manchester United, which prompted cries of betrayal in Liverpool and caused some United fans to ask why Sir Alex Ferguson was ­importing an Anfield legend. This toxic blend of tribal indignation would have driven many ­players into a trench. Described as “a killer” and “cold” by Sven-Goran ­Eriksson, Owen was protected by a talent for equanimity. These are hard times for him, if you measure his life in game time, but he became so sure, so long ago, of his ability to put balls in nets that nothing can persuade him his time at the top is closing.

The England conundrum is hard for him to articulate, as it would be for any discarded household name. To make a strong case for his own inclusion would sound like ­agitation. To keep quiet might suggest ­resignation. “If you have any setback in your life, like not being in the England squad was for me – any setback, like losing a family member – everyone handles it in different ways,” he starts out. “When I first wasn’t included I was numb. I’d been the main England striker for years and years. It was really disappointing, upsetting. For the next few days you’re trying to get your head round it. Then it’s, ‘OK – I’m not playing well, I need to find some form, I’m ­playing in a struggling team at ­Newcastle,’ or whatever it is.

“And then you’re not in the next squad. And you’re numb, and you do the inquiring in your head again, then you’re not in the third squad, and you gradually come to the point where you say, ‘OK, I’m not in the squad for whatever reason.’ I’ve ­handled that in my own way. If you thought about it too long you might think, ‘Right, I’m a crap player because I can’t get in the England squad’ – but I’m confident in my own ability. If that wasn’t the case you might as well pack it in now. If you think too much, you start doubting yourself, doubting your quality, so you have to train yourself in a certain way. It’s hard for me to say [I should be in the squad] without jeopardising that, or being ­disrespectful to any other player, and the list goes on.”

Plainly a painful adjustment is under way. As with England, so, to a lesser degree, with United, where Owen, now 30, inherited Cristiano Ronaldo’s No7 shirt but has served mainly as back-up for Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov and has even seen the 22-year-old rookie Mame Biram Diouf sent on as a replacement ahead of him, at Birmingham City. Owen has scored seven times in 26 appearances (with nine starts) and has overcome the Stretford End’s ­suspicions with a late winning goal in a Manchester derby and a Champions League hat-trick at Wolfsburg.

That flourish in Germany fortifies the view he has of himself. For the third goal he outran a defender almost from the halfway line and finished like the pup he was at Liverpool. “Sprinting half the length of the pitch: to me that proved what I knew anyway. I’m still quick enough, though not blistering like I used to be. I’m still fit enough, because that was in the 90th minute. People were saying, ‘He shouldn’t be playing for England because he’s not playing for United.’ Well, that pitch was like a bog. I played 90 minutes on a bog and in the 90th minute I’ve still got the stamina and speed to do that. The one doubt – though not in my mind – was injuries. Thankfully, no one talks about that now.”

After that grand night in Europe he returned to the United bench. “I was under no illusions that I was going to be in the first-choice pairing,” he says. ­”Nothing’s changed in that way. But I’ve been involved in more squads than anyone in the building. I’ve come on in a lot of games. I’ve started a few. Yeah, I want to play a bit more but I’ve never once considered asking the manager, ‘Can I play in this game?’ or telling him I think I should play more, because I knew what I was buying into. I’m totally comfortable with it.”

So now we get round to the changes in him as a player and the loss of the firefly pace that brought 118 league goals in 216 appearances for Liverpool. In his most detailed self-analysis yet he explains that all top players “evolve” and says: “Nobody’s going to tell me Ryan Giggs isn’t a different player to the one he was when he was lightning quick and beating everyone on the outside, crossing balls. Paul Scholes used to score dozens of goals every year. What does he do now? He sits in the centre and sprays the ball in all directions and doesn’t give it away for the whole game. He’s not the same player. Alan Shearer wasn’t the same player. The list goes on. I’ve added bits but I’ve had things taken away as well.

“I was talking to Rio Ferdinand the other day and he said that when I first got into the England squad I ran past a ­couple of defenders and all the lads stopped ­training and said, ‘Did you see that?’

“I was proper, proper fast at one point, and obviously I’m not now, so I’ve lost certain things, but when I was that fast I didn’t need to do certain other things in a game. It was such a potent weapon. I was in the team to threaten in behind, to get the ball and run at players. But when I started losing that I had to find other ways to scare defenders. And that’s how your game evolves. I’m much better now at timing the run and picking the moment and being able to spot something develop. When I was young it was make a diagonal run there, there and there, and out of the six runs only one or two would be good ones – or good enough for me to be found – but I’d be quick enough to run past the player anyway. I’d say my runs are more thought-out now.”

Less haste, more cunning is his ­message, and he says this is true across United’s Carrington training ground: “Ryan Giggs now, the way his body sways in and out, he can almost twist ­defenders inside out. His pace wouldn’t be what it was 10 years ago, exactly like me. But who would have thought when he burst on the scene as a 17–year–old that 20 years later he would probably be one of the top three players you want on the ball, playing a decisive pass?”

Rooney remains the biggest block to Owen claiming a starting place with club and country (that, plus Capello’s apparent prejudice). Ferguson has said he regards a Rooney-Owen partnership as duplication. The older of the pair takes up that theme: “The manager’s mentioned it to me and talked about the combinations that are available to him and he’s also been in the press and said he wants Wayne playing further forward and getting goals, and that’s what he’s been doing this season.

“A few years ago when I was playing for England with Wayne he used to drop in [to a more withdrawn position] and enjoyed that role. But people evolve and Wayne is a better all-round player. If you can get his services nearer to goal he’s going to get a lot. He can still drop in and create chances for others but now he’s nicked my place with England and Man Utd, so that’s not so great.” He stops laughing: “I automatically thought we could play together because we’re different types, but the manager wants him to play in that position more and Wayne’s been fantastic at it. One of us would have to adapt our game if we played together. The manager has played us together, but he thinks maybe other combinations are better, or that it might take a bit out of my game or Wayne’s game if one of us had to take an unfamiliar role.”

The master-apprentice bond between the fellow boyhood Everton fans is authentic: “If you ask for favourite memories, I say Gary Lineker in the 1990 World Cup and Wayne says Michael Owen in 98. From Lineker to Shearer to me to Wayne: we’ve been the main strikers. He likes listening to my opinion at half-time in games, for example. After the manager says his piece, Wayne for some reason will walk over and we’ll talk. If he has a problem I’ll give my opinion. It’s a team game, but compared to a goalkeeper or a right-back a striker is doing totally different things. Not everyone understands how it feels.”

With his racing yard in Cheshire employing 40 staff (“it’s my main passion outside of football, but I’ll never want to train”), his life after playing is already charted. But he still wants his old prominence. He goads his team-mates with the boast that ­winning the Premier League and Champions League would render his trophy collection superior to theirs. “I say to the lads, ‘I’ve won a lot of the smaller ones as well, like the Uefa Cup’, which they’ll never win because they’re always in the Champions League. I say, ‘If we win another league it’ll just be another one for you, but I’ll have the clean sweep.’”

You look for a crack in the faith he has in his ability to shine at a fourth World Cup with England. And still none is visible.

Michael Owen is wearing the new white, black and gold Umbro Speciali boots this season. The boots he will wear for Manchester United this weekend were designed by competition winner Tom Fournier whose design was chosen by Owen from 6,000 entries. For more information, and to purchase a pair, visit www.prodirectsoccer.com

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Fabio Capello has warned England regulars like Rio Ferdinand and David James that they risk not going to South Africa unless they improve.

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Fabio Capello will experiment against Belarus in the final World Cup qualifier, but Rio Ferdinand will start after holding talks with the England boss over his mistake in Ukraine.

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England manager Fabio Capello has confirmed Rio Ferdinand will play against Belarus on Wednesday, but Steven Gerrard has pulled out.

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• ‘He is an effervescent character’ says Frank Lampard
• England midfielder admits the injured Rooney is a big loss

Frank Lampard has painted a picture of Wayne Rooney’s true worth to the England team by likening the striker’s impact on and off the pitch to that of Paul Gascoigne in his prime, with the striker an “effervescent” presence when involved and “a huge miss” when absent.

England will have to do without their talisman, described as “an incredible player” by Fabio Capello in Dnipropetrovsk at the weekend, for their final World Cup qualifier against Belarus tomorrow with a celebratory occasion now transformed into a test as to how the national team cope without the injured 23-year-old. Rooney has scored nine goals in qualifying and his absence has prompted Capello into a switch of system following the forward’s return to Manchester United for treatment on a calf injury.

Yet, while England will have to do without Rooney’s goals and invention, they will miss his presence in the dressing room just as keenly. “You get there an hour before the game and he has got his kit straight on, and he is kicking and flicking the balls around, walking around and chatting to everyone like there is not a big game coming up,” Lampard said. “That is his attitude and it rubs off very well. He is a one-off. If someone else did it you would probably criticise them for not stretching properly or something like that. With Wayne, that is what he is.

“He is a very effervescent character and only certain players can give you that kind of enthusiasm that he has. He gives it out to people around him, which is a big thing. The only person I remember like that since, and I never played with him, was Gazza. He had that bounciness around the hotel and the dressing room and it got people going around him. Some people are nervous and having Wayne come round to them to have a chat or make a joke is something that’s very relaxing.

“You’re born with that. It’s natural. Wayne did it at 18. Some players are born to play for England at 17 or 18. Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney … other players, like myself, need 10 or 15 games to believe you should even be there. So that is something we will miss. Hopefully we’ll have it back for the World Cup. But Wayne’s not only that bubbly character. He backs it up with the way he trains and plays.”

Denied Rooney’s services, Capello is expected to drop his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and drill a more conventional 4‑4‑2, with Aaron Lennon and James Milner most likely to be employed as authentic wingers supplying a front line of Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Emile Heskey, who is attracting serious interest from Fulham, having cast doubt over his future at Aston Villa where he has been reduced to a bit-part role, may be rested against Belarus with Capello unconvinced as yet that Carlton Cole has the necessary discipline or concentration to thrive from the start at the higher level.

The Italian is wary of playing Steven Gerrard – who tweaked his groin against Ukraine – in a game that means nothing in terms of Group Six, but offers an opportunity to demonstrate that this team can thrive in Rooney’s absence whether it be Belarus in a qualifier or a more critical fixture at the finals. The striker’s involvement will be limited to his attendance as one of the 55 players – including Michael Owen – invited to the game by Capello as thanks for their efforts in qualifying.

“We’ve got a good mix of experienced players who can step up and help those around them, and young players who want to come in and show what they can do,” Lampard said. “Agbonlahor has done fantastically well for Villa and gives us more pace than anyone else in the squad. In my career there have been times when you lose a big player, but it does make everyone a bit stronger around the place. People have to step up. You might go into a game with a bit more concentration. We haven’t got a Wayne, a Gerrard, a John Terry or a Rio Ferdinand at certain times, so you make sure you give a bit extra and that’s the only attitude you can take.”

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