Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, talked not of conquering mountains, but of conquering the self. That is what Fabio Capello has brought to England's rapid ascent to respectability. He has given his players the mental strength to overcome the doubts that have plagued them since the failure at the World Cup in 2006.

Rio Ferdinand hinted at this earlier in the week: the fear that it was all an overhyped circus; a show with no real substance at its core, inhabited by players crying out to be reacquainted with the basic skills of their trade, brash on the outside, but empty within. Capello correctly identified a lack of confidence as key to England's malfunction and set about addressing this.

Beyond England, only Spain, the European champions, have maximum points from four World Cup qualifying matches, and only Holland could emulate this record from the teams who have played three games, an astonishing transformation considering the standing of the England team when Capello took control. In his first year, at least, the mission has been accomplished. There is one more game, a friendly against Germany in Berlin on November 19, but Capello is already playing it down as an opportunity to experiment. “We have the confidence now and that is the most important thing for a team,” Capello said. “We always think we can score. I need a bigger group than this, though, players with confidence, who have played more games with the seniors. So that is why I will experiment against Germany.”

The nucleus of his team has been established in these four matches, however, and almost every individual appears to be benefiting from Capello's no-nonsense, yet highly sophisticated approach.

David James Far from England's strongest link, but Capello has avoided the mistakes of the previous regime, when Steve McClaren stayed loyal to Paul Robinson for too long and threw Scott Carson in at a time when the immensity of the match against Croatia at Wembley overwhelmed him. James would not make a list of top international goalkeepers, but Capello quickly identified him as the best of the bunch and stood by him, bringing stability to the role.

Wes Brown Right back is still the problem position for England and, long term, Micah Richards may feature, even if Capello shares the reservations of many about his youthful frailty at senior level. An option is to restore Gary Neville, now that he has started to play again for Manchester United, particularly if that gives him a player with more experience than Brown.

Rio Ferdinand “The captain was fantastic,” Capello said after Ferdinand's performance against Belarus in Minsk, and Ferdinand's glowing tribute to the way the manager has taken the defence back to basics suggests a growing bond between them, despite the disappointment of losing out to John Terry in the captaincy trials. Ferdinand described Sven-Göran Eriksson, the previous foreign England head coach, as liking his defenders to defend and Capello is clearly a bottom-line pragmatist, too. One suspects, however, that he is prepared to give more detailed analysis of how this is to be achieved than the passive Eriksson.

John Terry/Matthew Upson/Joleon Lescott Terry was resigned to losing the captain's armband to Ferdinand in August, but Capello surprised everybody. It would be an even bigger shock if he dropped his captain, but do not put it past him if he feels Terry's performances are not up to scratch. One of his greatest achievements is to get his established players to feel confident, yet also to fear for their places. What has happened to Michael Owen proves he is to be taken at his word. There is no real challenge from Upson or Lescott yet, though.

Ashley Cole/Wayne Bridge Cole looked better by not playing against Belarus than he did by playing, and making a mistake, against Kazakhstan. Cole's resurgence this season is more down to Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager, than Capello, but Scolari may soon have to do without his understudy at left back, Bridge. Capello says that he wants his England players to be regulars at their clubs and it is easy to see why. Bridge is certainly a better player than was on show in Minsk. He needs consistent first-team football, and that means leaving Chelsea.

Theo Walcott/David Beckham Walcott has not revisited his Zagreb form in the past two matches, but did anyone seriously expect that of him? Credit is due to Capello for giving Walcott his chance against Andorra, then gambling on him in Croatia, the match that has defined this group. Capello is painted as a pragmatist, but he took a leap with Walcott, and even if the player fails to recapture that level of performance again this season, he will be an effective weapon for England because on memory of Zagreb alone he will demand close marking, which creates more space for Wayne Rooney and England's attacking midfield players. Beckham was a spent force on the right and, used from the start, lacked the energy to get behind the full back. Walcott's pace, and his eye for goal, was a revelation by comparison. Acknowledging this, Beckham has accepted the role reversal with good grace. He is not so much an impact substitute but a safety net, as England protect their leads.

Frank Lampard/Gareth Barry Lampard has been consistently England's best midfield performer this season, but his specific role is in flux and he had a quieter game against Belarus, one that reflected the extra defensive responsibilities he has assumed under Capello. In Minsk, as in Zagreb, he was asked to make guarding the back four a priority and did so unselfishly, with Belarus posing a greater threat than Croatia. Barry is ostensibly detailed to be England's holding player, but he will find his position under threat if Owen Hargreaves regains fitness. There is still a vacancy for the English Claude Makelele.

Steven Gerrard Is this a new beginning for Gerrard with England? We can only hope so after his most convincing performance to date in a position he is said to dislike. Perhaps Gerrard is only getting to grips with it now. He starts from left midfield, but has the freedom to move across the frontline in support of the forwards. Not so different to his preferred position, really, in terms of his ability to influence the game. His absence from the Croatia win may have been a blessing in disguise, because it has focused his mind on what the manager wants; he even man-marked Alexander Kulchy, of Belarus, in the second half on Wednesday. If Capello can continue extracting Liverpool-level performances from Gerrard, anything is possible.

Joe Cole Absent this week, and may struggle to secure a starting place in the team with everyone fit, but can play a variety of midfield and forward roles and has made a tremendous impact as a substitute of late. Capello may never give him the run in the playmaker role that he seeks, but neither has any other manager.

Wayne Rooney The England team have a lot of very good players but only one that, as a young man, drew comparisons to Pelé. Restoring his form was the key to making England a successful team again and Capello has done that, creating a potent partnership with Emile Heskey. Rooney's five goals in qualifying matches already make him the most prolific English scorer in a qualifying tournament since Owen scored six on the way to the 2002 World Cup and, with six games to play, he has equalled the tally of England's top scorer in the previous three qualifying groups (Peter Crouch in the doomed tilt at the 2008 European Championship finals, Frank Lampard on the way to the 2006 World Cup and Michael Owen and David Beckham sharing the top spot en route to Euro 2004 in Portugal). Capello insists that Rooney can play anywhere along the forward line, but it is hard to imagine that he will be moved too far from Heskey now.

Emile Heskey/Michael Owen When Capello started in the job he bemoaned the absence of an English target man in the style of Luca Toni, of Italy, and now he has moulded one. Heskey will never reach the level of a player such as Fernando Torres, of Spain, who can lead a line and score goals prolifically, but England's 14 goals in four matches suggest that the centre forward no longer needs to be a scoring machine if his contribution oils the engine to ensure that others are. Maybe there will come a day when England will miss the clinical finishing of Owen, but if this qualification group unfolds as expected, it is unlikely to be any day soon.