Rio Ferdinand lost out on the England captaincy to John Terry, with England’s first game under Capello’s choice producing the usual dire football. Terry was caught out for the first goal, pulling Baros’ shirt not being enough to stop his opponent from scoring, with nothing but negative reviews for the Chelsea man the following day.

Today, Sir Alex Ferguson has reflected on Capello’s choice, confirming Rio will be the United captain after Gary Neville.

“John Terry has been captain of Chelsea for quite a while. That must have been an advantage,” said Ferguson. “The difference here is that I operate my captains on seniority. In the long-term Rio will be captain of Manchester United, there is no question about that. It is a position we are very comfortable with that. His leadership qualities have improved tremendously over the last couple of years and his ability is there for all to see.”

Ferguson doesn’t believe there is much between the two players when it came to Capello’s decision, which was emphasised by the new England manager’s following press conference, where he struggled to explain why he picked the man he had.

“I don’t think anyone was actually nailed on for it,” Fergie added. “It was always a flip of the coin between Rio or John Terry. At Rio’s age I don’t think we need to worry about the effect of what happened. He has proved himself a great centre-back. But it was the manager’s choice and he has chosen John Terry, Rio just has to get on with it. It is as simple as that.”