Here at Armchair Gurus we love a baldy and really they don't get much more bald than Chris Marsden. The left-winger first came to widespread attention at Southampton - at the tender age of 30. Marsden had been something of a journeyman in the lower leagues starting at Sheffield United and moving to Huddersfield, Wolves, Notts County, Coventry, Stockport and Birmingham before finally reaching the Premier League with the saints in 1999.
One of the greatest injustices of modern sporting competition is that 'the bald Beckenbauer' never got the chance to solve the perrenial england left-winger problem. His quality at crosses could have transformed Emile Heskey from donkey-number-one to a Lineker-esque goal machine - it's no coincidence that James Beattie's best form and England call-up coincided with CMFGs(Chris Marsden Football Genius) finest years.
Marsden captained Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final, but sadly the shine was taken off the day as his aerodynamic properties were not enough to prevent defeat to Arsenal. He scored one of the All-time-great-goals against Ipswich which you can see below as a gleaming example of the best left-winger England never had. -TG
Welcome to Armchair Gurus. MB and TG here to take you through the current hot topic - John Terry and the England captaincy. First up in favour of the move is our very own Blue, MB.
Captain Fantastic.
Some of you will think of John Terry as a tireless leader and others of you will think of him as... well... I'll let my fellow armchair guru, TG, discuss that.
John Terry is both an inspiration on the pitch and a genuine badass. A man who will literally put his body on the line for his team. Sure, his pace has been lacking the last few years but JT makes up for that with a knack for being in the right place at the right time and having a head made of pure concrete.
JT missed that champions league final penalty... A penalty which sent me into a rage, I punched a wheelie bin, pulled some wallpaper off the wall and generally became an angry boozed up ass. But he has never said after that it didn't make a difference. John Terry has said that the moment plays on his mind everyday. Regardless of what else you think about him, I far prefer that brave, upfront honesty to the cocky nature of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Think about this:
Nani gets challenged and stays down, screaming for a bit and maybe crying a few crocodile tears.
John Terry stays down for longer than 30 seconds and shows clear signs of being in pain.
How often do you see these things?
John Terry is an honest, hard working footballer. And sure, his private life isn't that honest nor is it something to be discussed within a blog about sport. I don't believe in celebrity stardom or fame and I feel it unfair to judge someone about their private life when it should remain as such.
Finally, John Terry is a winner. A big game player. A man who rallies his troops. 3 premiership wins, 4 FA cups, 2 league cups, PFA player of the year (2006) and European defender of the year (2006).
Welcome back Captain. - MB
TG - I can't be having any of that!
Now, it should be made clear that I support Manchester United so John Terry is not on my 'all-time-footballing-heroes-that-maybe-are-the-second-coming-of-Jesus' list. Is he a good defender? -Yes. Should he be an england regular? - Yes, probably. Do I like it when he takes penalties in champions league finals...oh lawdy mama yes, yes, yes!
Here's the thing; this is a debate that we at the Chateaux have been having for a long time. Long before JTs matinee idol good looks and Byronesque charms got him in hot water. Put simply, his record as England captain is terrible.
Who was captain during the farcical reign under Steve McClaren, when England's so called 'golden generation' failed to even qualify for Euro 2008? That's right, our man JT. Some may point out that he was injured for some of the qualifying campaign, but isn't unreliability due to injury why Rio Ferdinand is being replaced? You can't tell me a fully fit Rio wouldn't make the starting XI.
Terry is a good captain for Chelsea but as the local boy come good he cannot do wrong there. Terry openly criticised Capello during the world cup and has done little to endear himself to fans or fellow players with his off-field shenanigans.
But we can agree on one thing. Here at the Chateaux we love comitted defending and it doesn't get much better than when someone is willing to summon the spirit of a salmon in order to get his face on the ball(although he didn't block it so I can only assume that if he were indeed a salmon natural selection would have seen to it that he would have been eaten by a bear).
Let us know what you think, we love disregarding other people's opinions so what is your take on the Captain Fantastic debate?
