Recent news of Fabio Capello’s appointment to the position of head coach of the England national team has been reported on just about every page of every major sports publication in the world, and just quietly I am chuffed!
Capello’s appointment to the demanding position will be envied by few managers in the community, but to me Capello has done enough to prove he at least wants the job. Out of all the managers the E.F.A (Exclusive Fuckwit’s Anonymous a.k.a. English Football Association) short listed, Capello was the only one who really came forward and wanted the position. Jose Mourinho, it can be argued, showed some interest, but to me his ignorance and showboating about merely demonstrates the ‘special one’ has single child syndrome (i.e. he is an attention whore).
Why am I so excited about his appointment I hear you ask? Put it this way. For a long time the English National team has been a joke. The last decent performance that comes to mind for me was the 5-1 thrashing of Germany in 2001 (note a lack of decent performances under one S. McClaren - the old uneducated git) and put simply, this is a joke. The players like Gerrard, Lampard (sigh) and Rooney who perform for their respective clubs week in week out have been a huge disappointment every time they put on the three lions jersey, and it’s about time a man came in and gave the national squad a shake up. And who better then Capello?
Flashback no more then a season or two ago and bear in mind the so called ‘crisis’ that was
encasing Real Madrid. They had been going through managers like a relegation bound club, which is not a good thing when your team is made up of Zidanes, Beckhams, Ronaldos, Rauls and Ramos’. Before Capellos appointment; between May 2004 and May 2006 Real Madrid had gone through no less then 4 managers (Jose Antonio Camacho, Mariano García Remón, Vanderlei Luxemburgo and Juan Ramón López Caro)! In short, Real Madrid was underperforming and the board felt this was down to mismanagement. Here was this team of absolute world beaters, and yet they simply could not win any title for the life of them. Cue the re-appointment of one Fabio Capello (his prior stint lasted from May 96 til June 97).
Put simply, Capello came in with no preconceptions and made the big names earn their place in the squad. He put the drive back into the team and made them work hard instead of allowing their ego’s to play the football. What resulted was the Spanish domestic title after several seasons of nothing. And from where I am standing, the comparisons between Real Madrid and the England national squad are quite parallel. Both have big names and both were or are underachieving. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard (especially fat Frank) and John Terry are all players who for me think they deserve special status and starts for their national team. Under Capello, this will not be the case; they WILL have to prove themselves all over again. And I find this great news.
Capello is a smart man; he will not start only one striker at Wembley against Croatia when only 
a single point is needed. This is a very negative tactic and it showed. When England managed to pull the game back to 2 – 2 then Capello would have bought off a striker and played with 2 defensive midfielders protecting the back four in order to cushion the games result (as this was much later in the match, and could be argued less negative). And quite frankly an England team wont be put in that position because they will not be playing out 0 – 0 draws to Macedonia at home. And against Russia in Moscow he would have acted quicker to tighten up the game once England conceded the equaliser. A draw away to Russia would have been a good result for England. In international football you don’t have 5 minutes to make the tough decisions. It took McClaren that long but for Capello this will be done in an instant.
With no competitive game until September for the National team, I am sure he will organise a tour next summer to have a close look at all the players.
Bringing in all Capellos backroom staff will cost the E.F.A, but put this into context. How much did missing out on the European Championships cost the English Football Association? And without full backing of Capello (i.e. affording him the opportunity to bring in the personnel he trusts) it could have cost them a lot more. As we speak England are still not qualified for the World Cup (Major European qualifiers are yet to begin). But Capello is the man to do the job, and by giving him the resources he needs the only way is up for England national football. Capello will not refer to his senior players as JT or Stevie G. He will not leave press conferences saying he is off to have lunch with the squad. He will not pander to the media or fan power.
If this is the cost of making England a world force in football again, then for me it’s a price worth paying!
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