Much wailing and teeth gnashing after England’s disappointing defeat to France last week – and most of it appears to have missed a few fundamental points about Fabio Capello and what he has inherited.
The Italian was as bemused by the coverage of the events in Paris as many of those who wrote - or spoke - about the match were by what they witnessed.
Talking to those close to Capello starts with the caveat that they would prefer not to speak on-the-record. That’s because their true thoughts on the England squad make uncomfortable reading.
The players, and the way they have traditionally played, are not good enough. It’s not winning football. It’s certainly not tournament football. So Capello is trying to get them to play differently. One of those close to him said: "It’s like going to a new school and it being day two or three."
What he meant was it’s far too early to judge on his methods – while it also should be remembered that he’s trying to educate pupils who have been tutored the wrong way. Capello wants the team to play a high line in defence, press the opposition but retain possession. No more long-ball football, no more vainly chasing the game.
"At this stage they have to try and play in a different way," the source said. By which he means: "we know they can play 4-4-2, if needs be, and we know they can get the ball quickly into the opposition’s penalty area, if needs be. For now he wants to try something different but, rest assured, if it’s doesn’t work then he will revert to type."
In a sense that’s depressing. But it’s also pragmatic even if Capello is also determined he can make England play differently. The biggest bar to that is obvious. When asked why England’s players don’t play for their country the way they play for their clubs the answer is all-too-clear – they play with better players for their clubs.
There are four English teams in the last eight of the Champions League which is a testament to the strength of the Premier League but not to English football. The best player at Manchester United? It’s Cristiano Ronaldo. At Chelsea? It’s Didier Drogba. At Liverpool? It’s Fernando Torres. And Arsenal? Well enough has been said about the lack of Englishmen at the Emirates.
Capello knew he had a big job on his hands when he agreed to become England manager. He’s also paid a big salary to do it. If he can achieve what he believes he can achieve then every penny will have been earned.
I think this makes a lot of sense, the problem being he can only choose English players. Look at Mr Eriksson progress at Man City when he can bring in the players to match the style he wishes to play. Where is the English Elarno or Petrov?
It would then imply he needs to change the whole English football culture to change the way we play from the grass roots. This means results potentially would not be seen for a long time, would he get such time and indeed would he want to commit to such changes.
Posted by: Chris | 31 March 2008 at 12:23 AM
The problem england have is that teams are teams nto 11 individuals. Look at how many times you will hear about a great player, such as Torres: "He's settled in in only X games." Or at Manchester with Nani and Anderson: "This will be their settling in season."
The winners of the last few World Cups and Euros have won because they played as a team. And there is a reason why England don't play as a team. In Italy, defense (and most of the team's roles) are very systematic. Randomly shuffle the defensive players in Serie A between teams and, for the most part, within a week or two they will settle in again perfectly.
Take out Frances core of Zidane, Viera, Thuram and Henri and they are an average team (Yes, I realized it's changed now.) Those four players had an incredible intelligence and ability to govern the game as required. Look at how they adjusted to an Italian team in the last world cup, an Italian team that was better ON AVERAGE than France. France forced Italy into a corner in midfield ITaly was unable to use their width and better 'average' quality.
So what's the problem with England? It's not the quality of the players or the English style. It's simply that because the english style is much more 'intuitive' and each team is very different, England has a much higher learning curve to function as a team. I think if Steve Mac had taken only championship players but taken the same players every time, they would have done better. Or if he had selected all the english players from a mostly English team and just filled in the chinks as needed.
Posted by: John | 31 March 2008 at 09:52 AM
Are you saying that a core of Gerrard,J.cole,Rooney,Hargreaves,Terry,Ferdinand are just not good enough these are players that could walk into any top flight team in Europe, not to mention Lampard. As for saying Drogba is the best player at Chelsea I think you find that it is P.Chec when he is missing they struggle. That is the weakness in England a descent goal keeper. You talk about Italian defense but fail to mention they have the best keepers in the world that is the heart of every great defense. If Coudachini played for England we would be at the Euro's no question.
Posted by: mike | 31 March 2008 at 11:49 AM
Mike,
I don't know if you are refering to my post but I am saying that until a core of Gerrard, J.cole, Rooney, Hargreaves, Terry, and Ferdinand have the chance to play to gather and form a team out of themselves, they will not be a team. Nations that have a club team style that allows quicker intergration togather have the advantage.
Posted by: John | 31 March 2008 at 12:38 PM
Look at either Milan side /serie A, overflowing with imported players yet Italy are the world champions. we need a less aggressive media and a FA that is not trying to recreate 1966 all over again, it is time to move on. The FA has made more ricks than any England goalkeeper yet they are not targeted as a problem. The handling of Sven's successor being a case in point.
Posted by: Mike | 31 March 2008 at 01:53 PM
Look at Rooney's performance at the weekend. With passing of decent quality from the midfield (from the English Carrick and Scholes) and runners alongside him (yes, the foreigners) he was a good player again.
But while there are enough English passers of the ball of quality (the aforementioned plus Gerrard, Lampard, Cole and others), I can't think of too many English forwards of speed, skill and wit. Perhaps Gerrard further forward, perhaps Walcott one distant day, but in Rooney we have got one quality English forward and the urgency is to find someone to play alongside or around him.
What I don't understand about Capello's choices so far is that surely we now all know that the guy to lead from number nine isn't going to be Crouch or Owen (no any more), but these seem to be his only alternatives to a badly supported Rooney up front on his own. He might as well try Aglonbahor or Ashley Young because they could hardly be worse.
Posted by: Ashley Grimes | 31 March 2008 at 05:01 PM
As has been well-documented, English footballers tend not to have much technical ability on the ball. It has been that way for ages. When they are young they will play for local clubs where from a very early age they are taught the merits of discipline (positional), hard tackling but not dribbling their way out of tight positions (hoof it out for a throw-in if in danger) nor the merits of developing any sort of adaptability to different positions. The results are plain to see. Yes Gerrard can ping the ball 40 yards and has a mean strike, but he and most of England's other best players are unlikely to retain the ball very well.
Posted by: Nick | 31 March 2008 at 07:37 PM
Crocodile tears. Money was the incentive to engineer the present crisis. The Premiership will allow no going back. This means that any damage done to the national side - Wenger says an Englishman should manage England, yet ask him to provide English players and he says 'Racism starts here' - will be resolved only one way: make foreign players eligible to play for the country where they earn a living. Another backward step for nationhood, but a giant leap for nation-hating one-world fanatics like the Independent.
Posted by: Jack | 04 April 2008 at 12:15 AM
I think England need an intelligent midfield leader to interpret (in footballing terms) Don Fabio's ideas on the pitch. An English Albertini - is it possible?
Interesting article on thinking footballers here i just came across: http://gentrystyle.com
Posted by: Paolo | 06 April 2008 at 07:49 PM
Fabio is the man I believe. We cant write off every man that takes the job. Apart from the tactical side, he is a manager that will get players working their socks off. He is used to working with big name players and isn't affraid to punish any player. Even though England have lost to France, i have noticed an improvement in Englands play and their style is much better.
Posted by: Manchester United Credit Card | 14 May 2008 at 09:53 PM