Davids: England must build around Gerrard
Edgar Davids believes that England could enjoy success under Roy Hodgson as long as he plans his team around new captain Steven Gerrard.
By ESPNTAR.com staff
Gerrard was named captain of the England squad by Hodgson last Wednesday during the team announcement, and Davids believes that the Liverpool skipper holds the key to England's fortunes.
The former Dutch international praised Gerrard's abilities as a match-winner and rubbished the notion that Gerrard won't be able to play alongside Frank Lampard.
He told the Daily Mirror: "The important thing for me is that Hodgson has named Gerrard as the new captain. I think Gerrard is amazing and can do a great job.
"True, he has not always played as well for his country as for his club, but I think you have to play to his strengths and build the whole team around him. He can drive the England team like no other player.
"Gerrard is passionate and he leads from the front. At times he has lifted Liverpool to great wins almost single-handedly.
"People say he can't play with Frank Lampard but that's nonsense. Great players will always be able to play with other great players. It's up to Hodgson to fix it."
Davids also believes that the lessened expectations of achievements after a long period of uncertainty will help the squad go further.
"The great thing for them is that they are going into the tournament with low expectations," he added.
"That means far less pressure than normal. So with the pressure off, they could do a lot better than their fans - and the media - are actually expecting."
But, despite Davids' belief that Hodgson's charges will have a good tournament; he still backs his own country to be a success in Poland and the Ukraine.
"I actually think we will win it this time around, technically the Dutch are looking really great and have been growing as a team for some time," he added.