Steven Gerrard: The story of Stuart Pearce stripping him of England captaincy

Steven Gerrard is an all-time great, of that there is absolutely no doubt.

But while his legendary status will remain intact for the rest of time, there’s no getting away from the fact that he was far better for Liverpool than England.

Gerrard played 114 times for England and scored 21 goals, however, you rarely saw the man who terrified teams in the Premier League and Champions League on the international stage.

Nevertheless, the current Aston Villa manager was still given the responsibility of captaining the Three Lions and wore the armband at the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.

But in the build-up to Euro 2012, it looked as if Gerrard would be stripped of the captaincy.

After Fabio Capello resigned as manager in February of that year, England legend Stuart Pearce took over as caretaker boss and he opted to give the armband to Scott Parker for a friendly match against Holland.

It was a bold, bold call and the story of Pearce informed Gerrard of his decision to demote him is a rather bizarre one.

The Liverpool legend revealed all the information in his autobiography and his words certainly don’t paint Pearce in the best light…

Gerrard wrote, per Daily Mail: “There are moments, private moments behind the public face of English football, when players are not always handled in the best way. Stuart Pearce taught me that harsh truth in 2012.

“Pearce had been an important member of the England teams I revered at Italia ’90 and at Euro ’96. I respected Stuart Pearce. And that’s why the way he treated me 18 months later seemed so mind-blowing and upsetting.

“After Fabio Capello resigned in February 2012 and before Roy Hodgson took over, Pearce was caretaker manager for a friendly against Holland at Wembley.

“I