Pre-eminence came courtesy of controversy. Joleon Lescott was England's finest central defender at Euro 2012 but he owes his status as the first choice in his position to John Terry's international retirement and Rio Ferdinand's exclusion. The golden generation and the more garlanded talents - defenders like Sol Campbell, Jamie Carragher, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate who have kept Lescott out of the squad, let alone the team - have left the scene. Lescott is in pole position.
Just not for Manchester City. While the 30-year-old has gone up in the pecking order for places with his country, he seems to have been downgraded by his club. Lescott has only started three of City's last six matches, and one of those was in the Capital One Cup. While the Premier League winners are two games into their Champions League campaign, he is yet to take the field in Europe.
He has been dropped and snubbed. In place of Lescott, the teenager Matija Nastasic was given the most intimidating of debuts, away at Real Madrid. The Serb started, too, against Borussia Dortmund last week.