Who’s The Man To Lead England? Fabio Capello, Of Course...
Carl McQueen makes the case for the continued reign of Fabio Capello.
8 Feb 2012, 08:30
Fabio Capello
Wednesday 21st November 2007 – England have just embarrassed and frustrated a generation by losing 3-2 at home to Croatia to ensure they miss out on a major tournament for the first time since the 1994 World Cup. For the hours following the aftermath, thousands up and down the land discuss who should now replace the hapless Steve McClaren; the man responsible for England’s departure during qualification yet by definition still manager of the national team. In a bustling bar in Nottingham city centre, a group of university students debate the drinking man’s candidates for the next leader, and as generic names get thrown around over their fifth pint of snakebite and black, suddenly the name Fabio Capello is sprung into consideration. A man who in July that year was sacked during his second spell as manager of Real Madrid despite having just won the La Liga title but currently found himself out of work.
His pragmatic, tactically precise style of management had created one of the greatest club sides of all time in the form of the AC Milan team of the early 1990’s. Likewise, he had won league title with Roma and Juventus and twice worked in the Spanish capital to guide the Galacticos to league glory. This was agreed by all, despite some being more drunk than others, as the perfect man to replace McClaren.
The press begged for his arrival – something many will find ironic now with the queue to drive him to the airport growing daily – and in mid-December 2007, he was formally appointed as the 12th man, excluding three former caretaker managers, to hold the role euphemistically labelled the ‘impossible job’. Those students in Nottingham felt Nostradamus-like in their prediction. I should know; I was one of them.
His opening game was an uninspiring friendly victory over Switzerland. Naïve fans had expected a Rinus Michels inspired replication of Total Football upon the green minefield of Wembley’s once treacherous surface. Instead, pub quiz addicts across the land will know Jermaine Jenas scored the opening goal under the Capello-era in a 2-1 win.
The captain’s armband began it’s ownership under Steven Gerrard on that night against the Swiss, but Capello made it clear that he was to rotate it’s possession while he sought it’s rightful owner. Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and David Beckham all adorned it in following matches until Terry was named the country’s leader in August 2009.
And in those 4 games it highlighted the problem which has been England’s downfall ever since. There is no leader. There is no Braveheart character to lead his men into battle. Previous England generations have had Billy Wright, Bobby Moore and Bryan Robson to lead their country for over a decade with only disruptions due to injuries. This cannot be said for messrs Terry and Ferdinand – for reasons of which will perhaps be discussed at a later date for legal reasons that will also cloud Capello’s stance as manager until the day he does leave. While David Beckham led his country for six years at the start of the Millennium, many will attribute it to him being the best-known footballer in the world and not necessarily because he could walk over hot coals and spill blood to display an example that his colleagues should replicate (although Beckham’s commitment to the national side should obviously never be questioned despite countless knock-backs from the media at the beginning of his career and managerial snubs towards the end).
England has qualified with ease for the major tournaments under Capello compared to the harum-scarum approach predecessors ended up unintentionally taking like Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan. He still has the capabilities despite now being 65 years old. Many have criticised, and perhaps rightly so, his inability to fluently learn the English language, comparing him often to the example of the Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, who at the age of 72 is just as clear as Fabio as ever been with the English tongue.
Stop for a second and think. Were Capello to walk away tomorrow, who would you really want in charge? At the time of writing, Harry Redknapp’s future hangs on a court case but despite all his back-slapping from tabloid journalists and Sky Sports reporters who say this Tottenham team really is the greatest in the country, and saying what a great manager he would be for England, his tactical susceptibility is clear for all to see and has been documented by experts of the game for years – something which the likes of Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and other top ten sides would pounce upon with guilt-free ease. Unless he gives England a gung-ho mentality which his Spurs side possess then all we’ll have is Steve McClaren mark II. And I defy anyone to tell me otherwise. You may give me the example of England 1 – 4 Germany at the 2010 World Cup, but I still believe had Frank Lampard’s “goal” been given in that game things would have been so much different for Capello’s men – the Germans last two goals were both classic counter-attack goals as we piled on copious mounds of pressure. Had it been 2-2 at half-time we would not have been chasing the game. I guess we’ll just never know.
Name me another genuine candidate who will lead the majority of the country into thinking yes, that person will be the man to continue where Fabio Capello left off in qualifying to successive major tournaments, lifting the country to 4th in the world rankings and playing a style of football that IS bringing results.
Capello’s record as England manager reads played 42, won 28, drawn 8 and lost 6. It’s a spurious argument, but for just a moment compare that record to when the Premier League was a 42-game season for 3 years between 1992/93 and 1994/95 - had a team replicated that form they would have won the league each time. Quite simply, he has the greatest win percentage of any England manager, ever – better than Ramsey, better than Greenwood, better than Robson.
So who will continue that form? Roy Hodgson? No; experience he may have in abundance but will have bigger doubters than Steve McClaren thanks to his maligned Liverpool tenure. Sam Allardyce? No; passion he may have but he isn’t even managing in the top tier of English football – world football will slap this away with fits of laughter which will take years for our national game to recover. Stuart Pearce? Possibly; this relies on the success of “Team GB” at London 2012 – yes, it will be a completely different group of players, but Pearce has been under the tutelage of Capello for a few years now, if he hasn’t learnt any tactical knowledge of international football by now then he never will and will be assigned to the managerial scrap heap.
Other names are hindered by the fact they’re Scottish, still playing the game and will be coerced into management for a large sum of money to replicate what the likes of Jurgen Klinsmann and Marco van Basten tried in recent years with Germany and the Netherlands, or have never managed to a high enough standard in the English game.
For all the Football Association’s insistence that the next manager of the English football team must be from these shores, they could take a minute to think long and hard about who will fulfil that role and the repercussions should it backfire in a mould akin to Steve McClaren’s time in charge. We DO have players who can be fighting toe-to-toe with the best in the world, we DO have the facilities to continue young players progression and producing a conveyor belt of quality which we still currently do all too rarely, but what we DON’T have is the collection of managers and coaches to teach and guide them. If the man at the top, Capello, can show tactical guidance then the rest will follow.
So for all his doubters, of which as I’ve already stated, are growing day-by-day due to his supporter for John Terry, don’t jump into the discussion of all the “bad things” Capello has done to this England side without thinking not only of the positives, but what would the team really be like without him. Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you’ve got until its gone. If Fabio leaves tomorrow under a haze of mystery because of his current feud with the FA rather than applauded out of the building following at impressive, if not ultimately trophy-winning Euro 2012 campaign, at least I’ll have already warned you of what it will lead to.
Just be careful what you wish for, as it’s worryingly close to coming true.
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