As Fabio Capello officially starts his tenure as England manager today, advice will be forthcoming from every quarter. That is one of the many reasons why the job has seemingly aged its recent incumbents and may even do the same to the 61-year-old Italian.

One such nugget of wisdom came on Saturday evening and concerned the importance of Wayne Rooney. It came from John Carew, the Aston Villa and Norway striker, who played for Capello at AS Roma in 2003-04 when on loan from Valencia. And Carew knows all about Rooney, whose second-half introduction inspired United to a 2-0 victory in their FA Cup third-round tie at Villa Park on Saturday.

“Rooney is a great player,” Carew said. “They should call him ‘Braveheart’ because he is playing with a big heart. You can count on one hand the players who work as hard as him and, with [Cristiano] Ronaldo, he is one of the top ten players in the world. The English should be proud of him. I am sure that Fabio will look to build his team round Rooney — a player like that is worth gold — because he has been dealing with big teams and players before. Capello has had big success because he is a winner.”

Capello, 61, has seen the evidence at first hand. Starting work two days early, he watched United’s win from the Villa Park directors’ box and was said to be “mightily impressed” by Rooney’s energetic display, which included scoring United’s second goal. He was also able to run the rule over 12 other England-qualified players, eight from Villa.

“It was good to be at a game where a lot of the players were English,” Capello said. “Of course, to see a player like Rooney come on as a substitute in such good form and have a major impact on the game was good for me on my first day. I am now looking forward to seeing a lot of games very quickly over the next few weeks.”

Ronaldo, who scored United’s first goal, believes that Capello will resurrect England’s fortunes. “Capello is a great coach,” he said. “I still think that England have a great squad and, with Capello in charge, I’m sure they will do fantastic.”

Capello attended the FA Cup tie between Luton Town and Liverpool at Kenilworth Road yesterday and, depending on the outcome of a “fixtures meeting” at Soho Square today, he could take in United’s Barclays Premier League match against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The first legs of the Carling Cup semi-finals may also prove interesting, with Chelsea meeting Everton at Stamford Bridge tomorrow and Arsenal playing host to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. With Capello’s first match in charge on February 6, when England play Switzerland in a friendly at Wembley, he needs a swift overview of the talent at his disposal.

With Scott Carson, the Villa goalkeeper, unconvincing against United and Paul Robinson again error-prone in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Reading, Capello may have to look elsewhere. David James restated his case with a fine showing in Portsmouth’s 1-0 win away to Ipswich Town.

It is no laughing matter for Carson, Robinson or James, but Carew offered another insight into Capello’s psyche. “People think he is very serious, and he is when he wants to be, but he also has a lot of humour,” Carew said.

“You need a lot of humour and the English are famous for that, so I’m sure he will fit in.”

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