England still need John Terry's leadership skills against Slovenia. I am still confident England will go through to the knockout stages of the World Cup this afternoon.
We have the England manager, we have the players and if I was going to pick one centre-half I'd want to go into battle for us, John Terry would be the first name I'd think of. John Terry's a born leader of people, who enjoys the role of motivating players.
The majority of fans relate to him. Fans think 'if I were a player I'd give my all and wear my heart on my sleeve like John Terry'.
Team work: John Terry (right) strides out for training with Joe Cole Photo: EPA
His playing style as a defender is like that, he's very committed, but he's also a very good footballer. In training sessions, defenders get shown up a lot of times because – let's face it – midfielders and strikers are normally technically a lot better. But John Terry is right in there with the best of them when we do possession.
He's really comfortable on the ball. He's like Rio in many ways. I watch him and think 'he's a playmaker, good touch, two feet'. If there is one thing lacking in his armoury it is pace but I could count on one hand the times he's been done for speed.
When I was at Liverpool, Sami Hyypia was one of the slowest players in the Premiership but I never saw him beaten. Like Sami, John is a fantastic reader of the game. He's an all-round top, top player.
I have been in the game quite a while and when something like the headlines about John Terry's comments arise, I now think what would I do if I were a manager in this situation? I watched John's interview on Sunday and I didn't think he said a whole lot wrong.
He was backing the manager, backing the players and praising Joe Cole because that was the question put to him. It's difficult. He was asked about Joe Cole once, twice, three times. You want to praise the whole team but they want that answer.
If he did advocate that Joe Cole should be playing, and I was the manager, I'd certainly be disappointed and have a word with him. I would definitely not want any of my players suggesting who should play. There are certain things you can and can't say as a player.
As a manager I'd be keen for the players to have their say in how they are feeling on training, are we doing too much or too little? Are you tired?
Do we need to freshen it up? But in terms of picking the team I'd be very disappointed if a player was pushing for one of the players to play. I wouldn't be too happy.
England will need John Terry against Slovenia because of his motivational abilities but I'd be disappointed if he was called into action on too many occasions. Let's get it right. We are playing Slovenia. They might be leading the group but we should be beating them pretty well. We need a big performance from Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
I am sure they will be firing on all cylinders as we need to score goals. We need to show more in the final third than we did against the US and Algeria.
I understand what the manager means when he talks about "the fear'' in England's players. Ever since I played with England, we could go on a run of five to six games with everything great, qualifying easily, but then we'd lose a few and then the fans ask: 'Why aren't you playing like you do in the Premiership?'
I think 85 per cent of players in the England team don't play as well for their country as their clubs. It's happened for years and years.
It is the fear. England is so big in terms of press coverage. We are a football-mad country and there's so much expectation. Half the time, players go on the pitch almost looking after themselves.
They worry that 'if I play badly, the media will give me a bashing, I'll get marked four out of 10, and everybody will have a go at me because everybody is watching'.
I have heard players coming off the pitch, worrying what the perception would be about them because of that performance. Because of this fear of failure players have no chance of ever expressing themselves.
At their clubs, they are the best players, all liked by their fans.
If they have a bad game, they are still great, they turn it on in the next game and can win the Premier League almost single-handedly. With clubs, they are in a safe environment. It's like being in your house where nobody can harm you. When they get to England nobody loves you. If you have one bad game the fans start booing you and that's leaves a scar.
If an England player gives two passes away tonight the fans will get edgy. Do it again and they could start booing. That fear affects performances.
We are really in a pressure cooker. Read the paper and see what pressure is. Step off that plane when England get knocked out and you can see what pressure is.
I know other countries are under pressure. When France go home they will get a good tongue-lashing. But if America get to the second round, they are heroes and the same with Slovenia. With the entourage who follow England, there's far more pressure.
We are playing with a 10 per cent chance of winning the World Cup, a 20 per cent chance of coming back and it's 'oh you've done all right' and a 70 per cent chance of who is going to be the one who missed the penalty, got sent off and cost us. Players feel 'I don't want it to be me'. We are under a lot more pressure than other countries.
But we are shooting ourselves in the foot with everyone talking about 'crisis'. Let's focus on the game, let's focus on winning. If England win, any problems will be forgotten. ( telegraph.co.uk )
We have the England manager, we have the players and if I was going to pick one centre-half I'd want to go into battle for us, John Terry would be the first name I'd think of. John Terry's a born leader of people, who enjoys the role of motivating players.
The majority of fans relate to him. Fans think 'if I were a player I'd give my all and wear my heart on my sleeve like John Terry'.
Team work: John Terry (right) strides out for training with Joe Cole Photo: EPA
His playing style as a defender is like that, he's very committed, but he's also a very good footballer. In training sessions, defenders get shown up a lot of times because – let's face it – midfielders and strikers are normally technically a lot better. But John Terry is right in there with the best of them when we do possession.
He's really comfortable on the ball. He's like Rio in many ways. I watch him and think 'he's a playmaker, good touch, two feet'. If there is one thing lacking in his armoury it is pace but I could count on one hand the times he's been done for speed.
When I was at Liverpool, Sami Hyypia was one of the slowest players in the Premiership but I never saw him beaten. Like Sami, John is a fantastic reader of the game. He's an all-round top, top player.
I have been in the game quite a while and when something like the headlines about John Terry's comments arise, I now think what would I do if I were a manager in this situation? I watched John's interview on Sunday and I didn't think he said a whole lot wrong.
He was backing the manager, backing the players and praising Joe Cole because that was the question put to him. It's difficult. He was asked about Joe Cole once, twice, three times. You want to praise the whole team but they want that answer.
If he did advocate that Joe Cole should be playing, and I was the manager, I'd certainly be disappointed and have a word with him. I would definitely not want any of my players suggesting who should play. There are certain things you can and can't say as a player.
As a manager I'd be keen for the players to have their say in how they are feeling on training, are we doing too much or too little? Are you tired?
Do we need to freshen it up? But in terms of picking the team I'd be very disappointed if a player was pushing for one of the players to play. I wouldn't be too happy.
England will need John Terry against Slovenia because of his motivational abilities but I'd be disappointed if he was called into action on too many occasions. Let's get it right. We are playing Slovenia. They might be leading the group but we should be beating them pretty well. We need a big performance from Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
I am sure they will be firing on all cylinders as we need to score goals. We need to show more in the final third than we did against the US and Algeria.
I understand what the manager means when he talks about "the fear'' in England's players. Ever since I played with England, we could go on a run of five to six games with everything great, qualifying easily, but then we'd lose a few and then the fans ask: 'Why aren't you playing like you do in the Premiership?'
I think 85 per cent of players in the England team don't play as well for their country as their clubs. It's happened for years and years.
It is the fear. England is so big in terms of press coverage. We are a football-mad country and there's so much expectation. Half the time, players go on the pitch almost looking after themselves.
They worry that 'if I play badly, the media will give me a bashing, I'll get marked four out of 10, and everybody will have a go at me because everybody is watching'.
I have heard players coming off the pitch, worrying what the perception would be about them because of that performance. Because of this fear of failure players have no chance of ever expressing themselves.
At their clubs, they are the best players, all liked by their fans.
If they have a bad game, they are still great, they turn it on in the next game and can win the Premier League almost single-handedly. With clubs, they are in a safe environment. It's like being in your house where nobody can harm you. When they get to England nobody loves you. If you have one bad game the fans start booing you and that's leaves a scar.
If an England player gives two passes away tonight the fans will get edgy. Do it again and they could start booing. That fear affects performances.
We are really in a pressure cooker. Read the paper and see what pressure is. Step off that plane when England get knocked out and you can see what pressure is.
I know other countries are under pressure. When France go home they will get a good tongue-lashing. But if America get to the second round, they are heroes and the same with Slovenia. With the entourage who follow England, there's far more pressure.
We are playing with a 10 per cent chance of winning the World Cup, a 20 per cent chance of coming back and it's 'oh you've done all right' and a 70 per cent chance of who is going to be the one who missed the penalty, got sent off and cost us. Players feel 'I don't want it to be me'. We are under a lot more pressure than other countries.
But we are shooting ourselves in the foot with everyone talking about 'crisis'. Let's focus on the game, let's focus on winning. If England win, any problems will be forgotten. ( telegraph.co.uk )
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