Internationals / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 09 November 2011 /

When Frank Lampard leads England out on Saturday night he'll be feeling like the girl who only got asked to the prom because everyone else already had a date. And the absence of real leaders in this England team at the weekend is a real cause for concern, says Jamie Pacheco.

It's hard to argue that the likes of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Daniel Sturridge, Phil Jones and Kyle Walker all deserve to get a game for England on Saturday night at Wembley against Spain. They've all been in good form for their Premier League clubs and if they're not going to get a run-out in a friendly when a handful of senior players are out for one reason or another, then they never will.

That's all well and good but one feels that if Spain get an early goal and find their rhythm with the dreaded (for opponents) tiki-taka, this could be a pretty daunting and quite frankly unpleasant, experience for England's players. And an even tougher one because of the distinct lack of natural leaders on the pitch. The type that make sure you keep going to the end, give you the belief to get back in the game after going behind, the type that remind you what it means to play for your country.

Current England captain John Terry will sit this one out because Fabio Capello has decided against playing him whilst the twin investigations by the police and the FA over alleged racist comments made towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand are ongoing. He may yet figure against Sweden next week.

The man Terry succeeded as captain - Rio Ferdinand - has been left out of the squad with reports suggesting Capello is continuing to plan for life without the Manchester United defender after numerous injuries have limited his appearances for both club and country over the last couple of years.

One of those injuries prevented Ferdinand from playing at the 2010 World Cup, which meant it was Steven Gerrard who captained England at the tournament, after Terry had been stripped of the captaincy due to the fallout of his alleged affair with the former girlfriend of then-Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge. Gerrard is currently out with another long-term injury after making a successful comeback last month that included a fine strike in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Anfield.

That was a match in which Sir Alex Ferguson made headlines by choosing to omit Wayne Rooney from his starting XI after the former Everton player had been sent off the previous week away in Montenegro, an offence that resulted in UEFA suspending him for the opening three matches of Euro 2012. Capello has responded by himself deciding to leave Rooney out of these next two friendlies though he may well select him in his Euro 2012 squad even if the three-match ban is upheld after the FA's ongoing appeal. Rooney has rarely actually worn the armband for England or United but with just under 300 senior matches at club level and 73 caps for his country, he's very much one of the senior men in the England camp.

All this means it will be Frank Lampard who will skipper the side on Saturday night. The prolific midfielder is the stand-in skipper (for Terry) at Stamford Bridge. Of the other players in the England squad only Gareth Barry (at his former club Aston Villa), Scott Parker (at Charlton a long time ago, occasionally at previous club West Ham and once, so far, for Spurs) and Phil Jagielka (in the absence of Phil Neville at current club Everton) have had experience of leading their team.

No such problems within the Spain camp. Iker Casillas captained Spain to Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 glory and wears the armband for Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. The man marshalling the defence just ahead of him - Carles Puyol - captains Barcelona, whilst the wonderful Xavi is his stand-in at the Nou Camp. David Villa often wore the armband for Valencia before joining Puyol and Xavi in Catalunia at the start of last season and Fernando Torres was Atletico Madrid's youngest ever skipper before his move to Liverpool. Cesc Fabregas was Arsenal skipper for four years before his own move to Barcelona.

In all truth though, the lack of established captains or natural leaders within the side is just one of many concerns for England fans. Spain come into this match equipped with better players and are in better form, having qualified for Euro 2012 with an 100% record last month, a feat that coincided with David Villa becoming just the 14th European player to score 50 international goals. Some will feel Spain are short enough at [1.9] to win on Saturday but it's difficult to make a case for why this 21st century version of the Spanish Armada won't be leaving this inexperienced England team all at sea.

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