Steven Gerrard should captain England at the European Championships this summer.

It's a no-brainer. He's the best candidate on paper. Cut and dried.  *Places book of football idioms back on shelf*

*Picks it up again* No one should have to set out his stall on this one.

But for those who feel there are alternatives following the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the armband for a second time; for those espousing candidates such as Scott Parker, Gareth Barry and Joe Hart; for those people I write this: Steven Gerrard should captain England at the European Championships this summer because his brand of leadership is the antithesis of the fist-pumping style offered by Terry.

A fist-pumping style that, granted, seems to be favoured by England manager Fabio Capello - why else would he persist with a player who is neither the most talented nor popular in the dressing room? - but one that appears antique in a modern setting.

Imagine it's Monday morning and your boss walks into the office, slams his clenched hand onto your desk and roars Come on! in your ear. Would it motivate you? Or would you feel more inspired by a boss who is the best at what they do and who leads by talented and dignified example?

All this is presuming a player who represents his country should need motivating. The notion seems absurd, but even if they did, isn't that what the supporters are for? (Note to England fans: it is what the supporters are for.) It works for The Kop, anyway.

None of this is to say Gerrard is a mouse among men.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish spoke last month of the 31-year-old occasionally intervening to resolve any minor disputes that arise in the dressing room. And let no one forget his rallying cry to the supporters after the first of our comeback goals in Istanbul.

A motivator and a leader he most certainly is; he just goes about it in a different way to the John Terrys of this world.

Another reason Steven Gerrard should captain England at the European Championships this summer is because he is the most complete English footballer of his generation.

Paul Scholes has an immense technical ability; Frank Lampard scores more goals from a midfield position; Wayne Rooney is capable of making genius look audaciously simple. But when you list the attributes that, combined, would make the ultimate modern player, all of those named above would lose marks in at least one category. Gerrard would not.

Power, pace (Danny Murphy said this week that Gerrard is the fastest midfielder he has ever faced), skill, mental strength, consistency, tackling, leadership, heading, goalscoring – Liverpool's skipper has them all. 

That is why Gerrard has won man of the match playing at right-back; why he can score 23 goals in a season spent largely on the right wing; why he won Football Writers' Player of the Year operating as a second striker; and, most recently, why he can be asked to sacrifice his attacking instincts to perform in a holding midfield role during a Carling Cup semi-final against the league leaders.

It is also why I've never bought the argument that he cannot play alongside Lampard in the heart of England's midfield.

The one English player who comes to mind when looking for comparisons to Gerrard is Bryan Robson, whose career followed a similar path to our No.8.

Like Gerrard, Robson was a goalscoring midfielder (115 goals in 568 club appearances – Gerrard has 145 in 570 to date) and, like Gerrard, was regarded by many as the best English player of his era.

For evidence on the latter you need only read the testimony of his international manager, Bobby Robson, who wrote glowingly about the Manchester United stalwart in his autobiography, Farewell But Not Goodbye. Anyone who watched England in the 1980s will know that, having recognised his unrivalled ability, Bobby rewarded Bryan with the captain's armband ahead of three successive international tournaments, though injury would cut short his involvement in two of those. 

For Liverpool fans, another comforting similarity between the pair is that Robson looked destined not to win a league title as his club tried and failed to reassert their previous dominance over English football. But he, and United, got there in the end.

Robson had to wait until the age of 36 to lift the title. His moment came in 1992-93, and he was still in the squad when the Premiership trophy was retained a year later.

Arguably an even better player than Robson, Gerrard deserves to enjoy the same fate, just as he deserves an England manager as appreciative of him as Bobby Robson was to his younger namesake.

Follow me on Twitter @jimmyricewriter.