England captain John Terry, is once again the focus of the media's attention ahead of their clash with world champions Spain at Wembley.

It’s time for yet another return to the international stage with England and yet again, they approach the friendlies with Spain and Sweden shrouded in controversy regarding players and squad selection.

As the FA seek to fight the ban of the talismanic Wayne Rooney, his three match suspension currently basis for debate of whether to persist with the striker despite his three match suspension which could rule him out of England’s entire participation in Poland and Ukraine, Fabio Capello is seemingly at loggerheads with his employers over the attraction of his captain John Terry, currently subject of a Police investigation surrounding accusations of racism.

As it is, Capello has stood by his captain and included him in a 23 man squad which is notably without Rooney, the Italian willing to make haste with the exploration of alternatives as he powerlessly awaits the verdict of the FA’s challenge to UEFA’s original group stage ban for the European Championships. The same cannot be said for Terry however, there is no abundance of defensive replacement with such leadership qualities to rival the Chelsea man. Terry has undergone intense interrogation of character before, England have been down the captaincy stripping route before in attempt to stick to moral guidelines, but have merely concluded in going back to the tried and trusted centre-half. Terry has a long history of character assassination, but still remains England captain simply because he fits the mould of a leader in a way no other Englishman does.

However, with Capello running the “innocence until proven guilty” line in an admirable show of faith, he seems to be very close to the dangerous gauntlet of picking John Terry for England simply as a result of his leadership abilities. Terry seems so central to the England cause that, while the argument rages of his appeal to the national team whilst such demeaning accusations are held against his name, his role in a Chelsea defence that has made a rocky start to the season, conceding an alarming 15 goals in the first ten games before their second clean sheet of the season was achieved at Blackburn at the weekend, has been overlooked. That Andre Villas Boas’ side has already conceded as many goals as the Jose Mourinho guided defence in the whole of the ominous title winning year of 2005 of which Terry was a central par,t is damning evidence as any of his own startling demise. While many will be quick to condemn Terry’s involvement due to what allegedly comes out of his mouth, the doubt remains that the central defender is worthy of his inclusion when judged on his form alone.

Terry has been integral to the England set-up over the past year and with Capello’s unwavering loyalty in his leader that shines through all the off-field controversies, there has been nothing to suggest he will not remain as England’s first choice centre-half as England descend on the European Championships with preparations beginning this weekend with the visit of Spain. Terry however, has found recluse in his controversy as Capello has decided to take advantage of the impending investigation by the Crown Prosecution Service to spare him of such an intense examination of his qualities as a defender against the very best footballers in the World. His latest crack at England retribution will come against Sweden on Wednesday, a safe haven when compared to the foreboding encounter with the technically divine Spanish. 

Though, Capello needs to determine his true status on a pure footballing sense as quickly as possible. Is he reliable enough to provide the backbone of a creditable assault on the European Championships for an English team that looks for acceptance on the biggest stage? Too often England have embarked on the major scene with huge amounts of confidence in the wrong players, the over-hyped or over-promoted and if lessons, as Capello has previously claimed, have been heeded from the lessons of the debacle of the summer stay in Rustenburg, then he will not go down the same route. Yet with Terry, it seems the latest case in the false idolisation that has haunted England managers over the past decade or so; being a part of the defence that was found so wanting in the defensive necessity of organisation when two set-pieces were conceded against Switzerland, or the back four that was so positionally inept as they combusted against Montenegro is as clear as any indication, even his uncanny recent surrender to the excellence of Robin Van Persie, that he no longer possesses the abilities to cut it as a national centre-half. 

The outsider judgements of Terry’s persona will not cease regardless of what happens within the forthcoming international week, as they will also not upon the conclusion of the police investigation, people will always associate a dose of scepticism when it comes to the defender that courts controversy like no other, everyone pretty much except Capello, who sees qualities in the Chelsea man that he does not in anybody else with English eligibility. Gary Cahill will be partnered by somebody else as they face the wonders of Iberia at Wembley, but as Terry sits out waiting for his Wednesday opportunity to let his football do the talking, the clouds from his latest headline storm will still hang over him. But there is a sense of irony that the only challenge to his previously untouchable spot as England’s trusty centre-half comes from flimsy lip-reading evidence, not from his decline in form.