It may seem pedantic to run the rule over the translation provided at Fabio Capello’s first press conference as England manager, yet, given the Italian’s rudimentary English and the penchant of the media to seize upon fragments of sentences – sometimes without providing the context – and turning them into headlines, it is probably a worthwhile exercise.

The issue of Capello’s command of English is, arguably, marginal to the team’s performances. After all, Guus Hiddink, a Dutchman, speaks no Russian, but that did not stop Russia from qualifying ahead of England for Euro 2008.

But secondhand communication can lead to pitfalls and the first obvious one came yesterday. Given the history between David Beckham and Capello – which the England manager described as “contrasting” – their relationship is bound to be a red-hot issue, particularly when juxtaposed against the flashy celebrity status of the former and the dour severity of the latter. So ears pricked up when Capello was asked about Beckham.

The first part of his answer in Italian – that Beckham is a “great player” and a “great man” and that he was an important player who would be given “serious consideration” – was translated accurately. However, then the translator added an ill-advised “he said he believes David’s behaviour is important”. Which, of course, lends itself to all sorts of interpretation. Behaviour? What behaviour? Fashion shoots? Being married to a pop star? Hanging out in Tom Cruise’s swimming pool? In the hands of a mischievous press, it becomes a “warning” to Beckham. Except, of course, Capello did not say that.

Translating in real time in front of hundreds of journalists looking for “a line” was always going to be tricky. But that is what Capello will have to face, at least until he fulfils his pledge of speaking fluent English by the time he takes charge for the friendly against Switzerland in February.

And in some cases the translator helped to clear up some of Capello’s words when, taken verbatim, they would have sounded bizarre. Such as the time when he was asked about the size of his Italian staff and whether they were all necessary. Capello’s response in Italian went something like this: “Together with my Italian staff we want to create an English staff.” And, of course, paying two separate and parallel staffs – one English, one Italian – probably would not please the FA’s bean-counters (despite Brian Barwick’s talk of £1 billion of revenues in the next four or five years). On that occasion, the translator cleaned it up nicely by saying that Capello wanted an English presence on his staff.

Capello’s pronunciation will, logically, also need work. When asked about why he had not signed English players in his career, he pointed out that, when he was a scout at AC Milan, he took “Rye” Wilkins and Mark “Hatly” to the club. Capello’s pronunciation of the two former rossoneri obviously flummoxed the translator, who simply referred to them as “those two English players”.

The translator had to come to the rescue when the issue of relations with club managers came up. After referring to Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, Capello seemed lost for a second or two before talking about “the two Spaniards who came here, the coach of Liverpool and the coach of Tottenham”. In the translation, they were given identities – Rafael BenÍtez and Juande Ramos – which probably spared Capello some grief for not remembering their names.

The other mishap occurred when the new manager was questioned about Sir Trevor Brooking (whom he kept referring to as Sir Brooking) telling the BBC that he had received a “dossier” from Capello outlining his view of the English game and its problems. The interpreter translated the questions as, “It is said that you gave Sir Trevor Brooking a dossier . . . ” rather than “Sir Trevor Brooking told the BBC that . . . ” Had he chosen the latter option, Capello probably would not have replied by saying: “It’s not true. I never gave him a dossier.”

All of this is nit-picking, but that is what the media often does. And perhaps it tells us how much better things will be when Capello fulfils his pledge and conducts his first press conference in English in less than 50 days’ time.

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