[Locke]

Wayne Rooney announced as Captain of England.

Wayne Rooney is the new England captain. Why? For very much the same reason that Jack Colback and Danny Rose are new England players: Because there really isn't anyone else.

Manager Roy Hodgson referred to Rooney as the "obvious" choice. The word he was looking for was "only." With 95 caps, he has made almost twice as many appearances as his nearest challenger, James Milner. Goalkeeper Joe Hart, utterly unopposed as England's No. 1 thanks to the paucity of candidates, has 43. If Hodgson hadn't given Rooney the armband, he would have needed a very good reason for his decision.

Rooney's record at club level is excellent, of course. He has won the Premier League five times and the Champions League once, with a double of PFA and FWA awards in 2010. But at international level, his impressive hit rate of 40 goals obscures a series of disastrous displays in major tournaments. His coruscating performance at Euro 2004 seemed to herald a bright new era for his nation. Everything since has been an anticlimax.

In 2006, he was sent off for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho's tender parts. Ten-man England were eliminated in his absence. In 2008, he and the rest of the "golden generation" failed to even qualify for the European championship. In the 2010 World Cup, he was woeful and then publicly slammed the travelling supporters for booing him. In 2012, another critical red card, this time for kicking Montenegro's Miodrag Dzudovic up the bottom, saw him ruled out of two of his nation's three group games. England were eliminated in the first knockout round. In 2014, he was poor against Italy but retained his place in spite of widespread public criticism. England were eliminated inside the first week.

http://www.espnfc.com/team/england/4...ptaincy-option

And no post about Wayne Rooney in an England shirt would be complete without: