Wayne Rooney may not possess the oratory skills of Winston Churchill, but Roy Hodgson thinks there is no better man to infuse the England squad with passion and patriotism.
Rooney will arrive at Old Trafford on Sunday morning, but he will be diverted away from the dressing room and up to the padded leather seats of the South Stand among the people Roy Keane used to call 'the prawn sandwich brigade'.
Sitting next to the suited and booted directors, including former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, will not be much of an enjoyable experience for the Manchester United captain. It is simply not his natural habitat.
He would much rather be tearing about on the pitch below.
That, of course, is his own fault. Rooney will miss Manchester United's lunch-time kick-off against Everton as a result of picking up a red card for kicking out at Stewart Downing last week.
It did not take long for the critics to suggest this was a sign Rooney had reverted to the days of old - days when Rooney stamped on Ricardo Carvalho or when he lashed out at Montenegro's Miodrag Dzudovic.
But Hodgson insists that is not the case.
"People suggested he kicked out and got sent off because he was frustrated, and there was a lack of discipline and so on, but I have got to tell you in my dealings with him, and in particular in that couple of weeks before the Norway game, nothing could be further from the truth," the England manager said.
"If someone wants to write that Rooney hasn't got the temperament I can't stop them doing it, but they are wrong."
It turns out that Hodgson is very happy with Rooney's attitude since he was captain of club and country.
Hodgson explains he rarely saw Rooney alone walking around the corridors at St George's Park last month for England's first get together since he was made captain.
"He spends a lot of time with the players," Hodgson said.
One of Rooney's first acts as captain was to introduce player-only meetings at St George's Park and the team hotel in Watford.
In the past such an idea may have been viewed with suspicion, an act of insubordination even, but Hodgson welcomed the idea.
The England manager thinks the meetings will encourage players to speak up more about their grievances, and he has no doubt that Rooney instills confidence within the group when he gets up to speak himself.
"Everyone knows Wayne is not the sort of person with his Liverpool accent who is going to be able to stand up in front of a lecture room of people," Hodgson said.
"But he doesn't need to. All he has to do is make certain the players he is talking to understand where he is coming from.
"The great thing with Wayne, as it was with (his predecessor) Steven (Gerrard), is the passion that they have for football, for their country, and for their clubs - both were basically one-club men if you take Rooney leaving Everton at a young age.
"They can transmit that passion to a lot of those younger players. They can get their points across. They won't do it maybe quite as eloquently as someone like myself could, but that doesn't matter.
"He will get the message across and the message will be more powerful coming from him. We want to tap into that.
"I was very pleased when they wanted to (have their own meetings) and (team psychiatrist) Steve Peters encourages it as well.
"We want them going forward to take more responsibility."
With Rooney banned from his natural habitat this weekend, Hodgson expects the striker to do his talking on the pitch when England face San Marino at Wembley on Thursday - three days before they fly to Tallinn to take on Baltic minnows Estonia.
The double-header should give Rooney, who is eight short of Sir Bobby Charlton's scoring record, and his team-mates a chance to plunder plenty of goals.
But Hodgson is refusing to accept his team will definitely deliver two comprehensive wins.
"Complacency would be a big mistake," he said.
"You say it's all about goals. For me it's about winning the games.
"If we get the six points, the number of goals we score will be much less important than the points or the performances of the players."
Source: PA
