Gerard Houllier hailed an superb performance from stand-in skipper Ashley Young during Aston Villa's 4-1 demolition of Blackburn at Villa Park.
England coach Fabio Capello saw Young shine in the central midfield role and score twice.
He wore the armband in place of long term skipper Stiliyan Petrov who declined to take it off Young when offered it when he came on as a late substitute.
Stewart Downing, plus an own goal from Grant Hanley, completed the scoring for Villa while Rovers could only manage a consolation through Nikola Kalinic.
Houllier said: "Ashley is an inspiring leader when he is on the pitch.
"I know the captain is Stiliyan when he plays but, when he is not playing, Ashley is a leader because of the efforts he puts in.
"As the game goes on, his efficiency and work-rates goes on as well and does not diminish.
"I like him to play in that position to be fair. He can be a real specialist.
"He can be a striker and he can also be a link between the midfield and the attack."
Veteran midfielder Robert Pires also impressed Houllier in having his best game for Villa.
Houllier said: "The game Robert played against Blackburn in the FA Cup gave him match fitness and confidence.
"In training he has been good, nearly scoring and making goals, so I thought he would bring something.
"It was his best game for Villa. He was more confident at taking the ball."
Houllier was pleased with his side's overall performance despite not breaking the deadlock until the second half.
He said: "I think some people may have been disappointed with the first half. I was not and I told the players to keep their heads up, keep believing in what we were doing.
"We had to put more tempo, which we did in the second half.
"I said keep passing and moving once we get in the final third and eventually we would find a solution and that paid off.
"More than the result, was the quality of the play. We made some mistakes but I want the team to play that way with confidence and to me, it has got to be entertaining."
Rovers manager Steve Kean admitted his side were always facing an uphill battle once Young's penalty had broken the deadlock.
He said: "We set up to try and nullify Villa through the middle of the pitch by playing three in there.
"We were excellent in the early part and trying to get a clean sheet as a platform.
"Villa started to get on top just before half-time and I felt we were getting a little bit deep.
"We said it was important to keep it tight for the first 15 minutes of the second half and then hopefully the crowd would get restless.
"Before the penalty we had a great chance ourselves and Brad Friedel made a good save and a minute later we are a goal down.
"It is a bad day after that. We found ourselves chasing the game and being a little bit open."
