Andy Buckley

Are we agreed that the England manager Fabio Capello is having an immediate impact on the national side? Three wins out of four isn’t bad for a relative novice on the international stage and although England haven’t faced tough opposition other than France – which they lost narrowly 1-0 - victories against Switzerland, USA and Trinidad & Tobago have been convincing thanks to the Italian.

Remember, this is a man who has won league and cup silverware in both Italy and Spain and has won the ultimate prize in European football - the Champions’ League in 1994. I may be quick to revere Capello but those of us who aren’t so fickle will appreciate that you know a good manager when you see one.

When I think about Capello, I think about AC Milan; I have visions of him on the touchline at the San Siro wearing a three-quarter length coaching jacket directing his players with hand gestures and dirty looks. Then I remember that he’s in one of the toughest jobs in world football and hope that one day he will bring the World Cup home to England.

Every England fan hopes that they will live to see the day when England lift the beautiful trophy again and if Capello orchestrates this, we will forever be indebted to the hard-faced Italian. Capello is a perfectionist who lives by his principles. He’s often referred to as a disciplinarian but he’s a winner and a coach who craves success. He’s effective and his previous spells at AC Milan, Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid are a testament to this.

We should never have appointed Steve McLaren after the World Cup in 2006 but had we qualified for this year’s European Championships under him, McLaren would still be in charge now. Capello on the other hand, would have left Real Madrid and gone on to coach another European giant and achieve further domestic success. It makes me wonder if England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 is a blessing in disguise.

Under McLaren, England were an average international side and Croatia and Russia proved this in qualifying. In all honesty, I don’t think England would have gone beyond the group stages at Euro 2008 as McLaren was tactically inept.

Now that Capello is at the helm, he has the perfect opportunity to build a team capable of achieving international honours. There’s no doubt that he has great players at his disposal but the task he has is of turning them into world beaters.

His presence alone seems to have had a sobering effect on the England players and it appears that they are slowly coming to terms with the fact that he is not their friend but their boss. He will select players on merit taking into account club form, performance in training and general attitude. There will be no place for sentiment and those with inflated egos will soon be brought back down to earth. Let’s face it, this is heaven; an England manager who means business.

Tactically, Capello employs the 4-4-2 formation which goes hand-in-hand with the traditional English game, but as an Italian, he will insist on a tight defensive line. Technically, retaining possession is important for Capello and we have seen how England have tried to adopt this recently which is a far cry from the McLaren and Eriksson eras when England’s major flaw was giving the ball away too easily. I don’t think we’re likely to see ‘sexy football’ under Capello but we can expect to see a well-organised and well-disciplined unit capable of keeping possession.

It’s too early to say who Capello favours in terms of team selection but his four friendlies so far should have given him some indication of who not to consider for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers. I think Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney will form the backbone of his team with David James the likely candidate for the No.1 spot.

The England boss has already experimented with over 25 players since his arrival which is not unusual but I suspect that he will keep an open mind and will not be afraid to put an unknown quantity in unchartered territory. Watch this space.

 

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