As is always the case, too much is being read into the new regime too soon. No
England manager has ever lost his first match, some dreadful failures won
theirs by a comfortable margin, and to fete Fabio Capello for shading the
world’s 44th-best team 2-1 at home would be as delusive as believing the
exaggerated hype about the Spartan nature of his methods. To correct a few
misconceptions, Capello has not banned flip-flops from the England training
camp [he believes they are “healthy”], nor has he outlawed alcohol [it was
done before he took charge], he will address players by their surnames only
until he is sure of all their Christian names, and he is not about to change
the team’s hotel, in Hertfordshire, for somewhere less homely. Whenever a
new manager takes charge, the media’s insatiable appetite for stories gives
rise to endless embellishment of the facts, and this time the process has
been more pronounced than ever because of the language barrier. Capello has
made a few changes, but ones sensible rather than radical. None of the
practices he has introduced, or barred, will have come as a surprise to
players accustomed to the modus operandi of Arsenal’s Arsène Wenger or
Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez, and if the new order has come as a jolt to the
others, it is only because the old one had become so lax. To recap:
1 Wives, girlfriends, mates, relatives, agents and boot suppliers are
no longer welcome in or around the camp. This is not new, it was agreed with
Steve McClaren after the depredations of the WAGS at the 2006 World Cup, and
has merely been reiterated now.
2 – Players are permitted to use mobile phones only in their hotel
rooms. This was initiated by Glenn Hoddle, a decade ago, after Paul
Gascoigne had called his wife from the pitch during the prematch warm-up
when England played Morocco in Casablanca.
3 – No club cliques allowed at meal times, all eat and leave the table
together. This dates back to the Kevin Keegan era, when he was at pains to
get the Liverpool and Manchester United factions to mix, and insisted on
tables of 10, rather than six.
4 – Promptness at all times. Hoddle was a stickler for that.
5 - No card schools for high stakes. This was banned after heavy losses
in Keegan’s time.
So what is new? The use of mind-numbing PlayStations is discouraged, but not
banned, room service is no longer available, there will be no lie-ins, no
golf and no shopping expeditions. A curfew has been introduced, demanding
players are in their rooms at 10pm or 11pm, depending on the proximity of
the match, cosy nicknames are out, but the most notable departure from the
status quo is Capello’s delay in naming his team until three hours before
kick-off, to keep everybody on their toes.
It is easy for the media to lump all these things together as “Capello’s
Disciplinary Code”, but comprehension requires that we delve a little deeper
for what this doyen of Continental managers has in mind. In setting about
dragging England from the depths of their failure to qualify for Euro 2008
and repairing the players’ fractured morale, he is opting for the old
military formula of smartening everybody up and busy, repetitive routine. It
will be drill, drill and more drill until The Capello Way is ingrained.
Training twice a day, he is working them harder than has been their custom.
Work is his watchword. When the squad first gathered last weekend, he told
them the comfort zone offered only continued decline.
“Forget about everything else,” he said, in English. “You are here to work.
You train, eat and rest. I don’t want you doing anything else.” Too much has
been made of Capello’s standoffishness towards the players. The impression
dates from when he met John Terry at Chelsea’s Carling Cup semi-final away
to Everton and said little more than hello. This was interpreted as a snub
for the man about to be replaced as England’s captain, but the truth was
that the manager did not engage Terry in conversation because at that stage
his limited command of the English language precluded it. Capello has since
been portrayed as a heartless tartar, but on what basis? Unlike some of his
predecessors, when he decided to omit a distinguished senior player, in this
case David Beckham, he took the trouble to telephone him and explain the
reasons why.
Keegan, Sven-Göran Eriksson and McClaren all won their first games by
convincing margins, and were warmly applauded for it, only to lose vastly
more important last ones and leave with the fans’ abuse assaulting their
pride. What the early signs are positive. The performance against the Swiss
last Wednesday was little more than okay, but the professional, nononsense
way in which Capello has set about his work provides grounds for optimism.
It was good to see the new broom sweep out the old,privileged pecking order
and start everybody from scratch.
There had been too many sinecures, too many inflated egos indulged for too
long. Players were picked on reputation, rather than form. Capello won’t
fall into that trap – his first squad leaned a bit too far the other way.
Micah Richards had a poor game for Manchester City against Arsenal last
weekend at centre-half and was dropped in favour of Wes Brown, which was a
mistake. Brown is not an international right-back, and survives in that
position at Manchester United only because of the quality of those around
him. Similarly, when a deputy for Terry is needed and Ledley King is not
available, Jonathan Woodgate is a classier act than Matthew Upson. But these
are early days. The new manager, who had little interest in, and less
knowledge of, English football before his appointment, is still learning
about the players at his disposal. He now knows all about the diamond called
David Bentley and that Jermaine Jenas is an acceptable alternative to Frank
Lampard, but still needs to discover what Owen Hargreaves can contribute.
After Wednesday’s match, Capello praised Wayne Rooney as an indefatigable
exemplar from whom he wanted the rest of the team to take their cue. He
said: “Rooney is always fighting. He has a spirit I want the others to pick
up. It is very important, this attitude of his, and I want it to transmit to
the rest.” Fair enough, but while the man in question is many things, a
prolific goalscorer he is not, and it would be folly to repeat the
experiment that had him deployed on his own up front. He is not a
line-leading No 9, he needs to play off a more orthodox centre-forward. It
was no coincidence his, and consequently England’s, effectiveness improved
after the interval, when Peter Crouch was sent on and Rooney moved out to
the left.
One of the rumours that abounded before and after the game, in the absence of
concrete information from The Italian Mob, was that Emile Heskey would have
started, had he been fit, possibly alongside Michael Owen, in a conventional
4-4-2 formation. Certainly Owen, omitted for the first time for nearly eight
years, will be back. Explaining his omission, Capello said: “I know Michael
Owen very well and I’m trying to get to know what other players can do for
England. I wanted to see Rooney as the main forward.”
Another “informed source” had it that Gabriel Agbonlahor would have made his
debut but for his hamstring trouble. The truth is that nobody knows. For the
time being, the lines of communication are unreliable - witness newspapers
quoting general manager Franco Baldini in a Cantona-style reference to
English passes “sailing through the air like a crow”. The FA’s media
department had to put out a correction: The true meaning had been that
English crowds [not crows] liked to see the ball sailing through the air.
Everything will become clearer as Capello and company master their new
language, and as the players adapt to the requirements of the regime.
Meanwhile, there is encouragement to be had from the players’ comments these
past few days. Joe Cole said: “He [Capello] went up to every player
individually and gave them their own tactical briefing. His English is fine,
he gets his message across very clearly, and he is going to improve us all.”
David James, correctly reinstated in goal at the age of 37, said: “The most
impressive thing was that nobody knew he was in the side, other than Steven
Gerrard [appointed captain the previous day] until 10 minutes before we left
for Wembley on the bus. Then he [Capello] had a flip chart and lifted up a
sheet of paper to reveal one with the team on it. Nobody had a clue. I think
that’s best, rather than having the 11 chosen the day before and giving
everyone else the opportunity not to focus.”
Gerrard, at least, was on familiar territory. He said: “I’m used to working
with Rafa [Benitez], who is similar to Fabio in a lot of ways. They both
keep things close to their chest, especially in the way they announce the
team. There are no clues. I don’t think anyone in the country would have
guessed Wednesday’s starting lineup. I didn’t.” A welcome change from the
days when “Goldenballs” used to put in a word for his mates.
