Gerrard - Long way to go

England skipper looking for further improvements

By Rob Parrish   Last updated: 6th February 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Gerrard - Long way to go

Gerrard: Looking for improvements

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Steven Gerrard admitted that England still have a long way to go after the Fabio Capello era started with a victory.

The Liverpool midfielder skippered the national side as they defeated Switzerland 2-1 at Wembley, with Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips on target.

England were nervous for much of the opening period and Gerrard knows it will take time before the players can put Capello's ideas into practice.

Adapting

He told Sky Sports News: "There's still a long way to go and there still's a lot of improvement before we get to where we want to be.

"I think we kept the ball a lot better in the second half and we were a lot more patient.

"Once the players get used to the new manager and the way he wants us to play, I'm sure we'll improve. It's all about adapting to his ideas.

"We've only worked together for a couple of days. We've worked really hard in training to take in as much information as possible, but this team has still got a lot of improving to do.

"We'll get there if we work hard and listen to what he wants us to do."

Boost

Gerrard was proud to lead his country out, and would be more than happy to keep the armband when Capello names a permanent skipper for the World Cup qualification campaign in September.

He added: "For a manager of Fabio Capello's stature to give me the captaincy was a big boost.

"I've said many times before I don't want to blow my own trumpet or put my name forward. John Terry is still our captain and until that changes I'm happy to be the stand-in captain.

"I'm sure if you asked any player in that dressing room if they wanted to lead their country out on nights like this, they'd say 'yes, of course'."