Gerrard Backs Capello Ahead Of Euro 2012 Qualifiers
English captain Steven Gerrard has defended Fabio Capello ahead of England’s first Euro qualifiers versus Bulgaria and Switzerland, calling the cries for his ousting “crazy.”
“It’s important Fabio is still given a chance. Who out there, that’s an English manager, has the CV Fabio Capello has got?” said Gerrard, referring to the popular opinion in the British media that the Three Lions’ next manager should be English. “It would be a knee-jerk reaction to sack a manager after one bad tournament then think everything will be rosy when you start with a new guy and we’ll go on and win the Euros. That’s crazy.”
Gerrard also hinted that Capello would not change his traditional 4-4-2 formation. “Criticism doesn’t...
The Three Lions resume meaningful international competition this Friday v Bulgaria at Wembley stadium as weary and untrusting eyes focus on equal parts Fabio Capello’s management and various members of the new look England squad. Bulgaria is the opponent and three points towards Euro 2012 qualification is the goal.
A little over two months to the day when England were eliminated by Germany in the 2010 World Cup and with Fabio Capello still at the helm, England will take to the now impressive Wembley pitch somewhat ravaged yet somewhat optimistic as new blood hopes to emerge on the international stage.
Injury has claimed John Terry, Frank Lampard, Peter Crouch, and still Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the England defense.
The good news for England is that they boast some quality young...
After a hectic start to the Premier League season attentions now turn to England who face two crucial games in five days that will set a trend for Fabio Capello’s next two years in charge of England.
Before the World Cup Fabio Capello could do no wrong. He was seen as the saviour of English football for turning around our fortunes after the disaster that was Steve McClaren’s tenure. Capello guided England to a near faultless qualification for South Africa that included a stunning 4-1 victory in Zagreb.
All was set for England to mount a challenge for the biggest prize in football. But since the turn of the year things have slowly started to go wrong for England. First there was the John Terry saga; there were then injuries to the likes of David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand before a...
As England get set to play Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday a large section of the UK media will be sharpening its knives ready to plunge them into Fabio Capello. There is a sizeable majority of the media who would be only too pleased to see England lose to Bulgaria as it would ensure his immediate dismissal and the installation of a more media-friendly English manager called Harry.
These journos write to an agenda so no matter what happens in the game it can be portrayed as yet another example of Capello being hapless.
If England plays well and wins it will reported as all being down to the players. Last month’s win against Hungary was said to Gerrard digging Capello of out a hole. The Capello haters won’t accept that he can do anything right now. Whatever he does it will be seen as...
Arsenal youngster trains with squad
Fabio Capello was forced to draft yet another rookie keeper into his plans as his England goalkeeping nightmare continues. With Joe Hart the only fit goalie in the squad, Capello had to call on 19-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper James Shea to work with Hart during the session at the Gunners’ London Colney [...]...
England manager Fabio Capello appears to have backtracked in his plans to retire midfielder David Beckham from international...
To read quotes from some of the experts in England, it’s almost as if the thought of Mikel Arteta playing for England would be tantamount to a German player being selected by the Three Lions during the Second World War. Well, perhaps not quite that much, but the negative reaction to the prospect of Arteta playing for England is mind boggling.
England World Cup star George Cohen said this regarding Arteta:
“More and more players in his category, which is to say good but not good enough for countries like Spain and France, Italy and Germany, would qualify through residency, and where would that leave the home-grown product? Suffering even more neglect than he does now.”
Henry Winter of The Telegraph is also against the idea:
“It would be another dispiriting lurch into the heart of...
England coach Fabio Capello hints that David Beckham's international career could be over as the Italian feels he is "a little bit...
• 35-year-old missed World Cup campaign with injury• Probably he is a little bit old, Capello saysFabio Capello tonight called time on David Beckham's international career. The 35-year-old missed the World Cup through injury but ended up being a member of the manager's back-up team in South Africa because of the influence he has over many of the established England players.However, even when he recovers from his achilles injury, it seems Beckham will not be required for England's attempt to qualify for Euro 2012. "I say thank you very much for helping me at the World Cup but probably he is a little bit old," Capello told ITV ahead of tonight's friendly with Hungary at Wembley.Beckham made his first appearance for the national team on 1 September 1996 in a World Cup qualifier against...
Brown and Robinson Retire From England Squad
Fabio Capello has lost two more potential squad members as Blackburn keeper Paul Robinson and Manchester United defender Wes Brown declined their respective call ups to the England squad for England’s upcoming friendly against Hungary.
Robinson and Brown, both 30, narrowly missed out on the 23-man squad to travel to South Africa but were part of a renovated England squad ahead of Euro 2012 qualifying.
Robinson turned down his spot because “he was unwilling to be merely a squad member under Capello and has chosen to focus exclusively on club matters,” according to ESPN Soccernet.
Brown visited the team hotel in Watford to speak with Capello personally. “Wes Brown has this evening announced his retirement from international...
England boss Fabio Capello says he hopes to "improve the minds" of his players for the team's Euro 2012 qualifying...
England manager Fabio Capello says he is a better manager for having experienced the World Cup, saying he had "learnt a lot" from what was a disappointing tournament for his...
Fabio Capello apologises for England's dismal World Cup but insists he will fight to turn things...
England boss Fabio Capello has named his 23 man squad that will face Hungary on Wednesday at Wembley, England’s first match since their defeat at the hands of Germany in the World Cup. In the squad, Capello has shuffled fourteen players from the England team who featured and ultimately underwhelmed this summer at the World Cup in South Africa.
Full England squad:
GK: Joe Hart, Ben Foster, Paul Robinson – Dropped: Robert Green, David James
DF: Wes Brown, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Kieran Gibbs, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, John Terry – Dropped: Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, Ledley King, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock
MF: Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Adam Johnson, Steven Gerrard, James Milner, Ashley Young, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere- Dropped: Michael Carrick, Joe...
England coach Fabio Capello is expected to name a crop of emerging players for Wednesday's friendly against Hungary at...
• Midfielder had two hours to make up his mind• 'I might have gone had Capello asked me himself'Paul Scholes has revealed he regrets rejecting an England comeback at the World Cup and may have gone to South Africa had Fabio Capello made the offer instead of his No2, Franco Baldini.The Manchester United midfielder believes the call should have come from Capello and raised further questions over the Italian's management by saying that he was given only two hours to consider the approach. Scholes and Jamie Carragher were asked to return to the international fold before Capello announced his initial 30-man squad for the World Cup in May, but the former declined on the basis it would be unfair on those players who helped England qualify. One month on from the team's feeble exit against...
In a quite odd turn of events, former Italy captain and World Cup 2006 winner Fabio Cannavaro believes John Terry is soon likely to face the ax when next Fabio Capello calls upon players for Euro 2012 qualifiers. In a recent interview with the Daily Star Sunday, Cannavaro spoke openly about John Terry and how not to ‘cross’ Capello, or stand in line to suffer the consequences.
“You don’t cross Fabio and he won’t want anybody disrupting his tournament again“, was just one of a few loaded quotes the former Juventus man gave members of the press. Cannavaro also stated he believed Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole to likely be the only two remaining starters left from a vanquished England squad that fell so dramatically at the hands of the Germans come the opening match of the Euro...
It’s a bizarre story. First, in May, before the World Cup kicked off, Fabio Capello along with a man named Chicco Merighi launched the Capello Index, an objective system that measures and evaluates the performances of players. But after the news broke of the ratings system, many people thought it would be in poor taste to have the rankings system running during the World Cup. That included the Football Association (FA) who prevented Capello from running the index during the tournament.
But now that the tournament is over, the people behind the Capello Index launched the site this morning which reveals how poor the England footballers were rated.
However, “A spokesman from the FA said that the index ratings had not been seen or approved by Mr Capello, were published without his...
England manager Fabio Capello demands that player ratings website the Capello Index be removed from the...
England manager Fabio Capello will be back at Wembley on Thursday as he returns to work from a holiday after the national side's disappointing World...
The great thing about football is that it is a never-ending soap opera. One tournament draws to a conclusion and it’s not long before another begins. In a little over a week, the Under 19s European Championship gets underway with England playing a potentially tough trio of Austria, Holland and France and in around seven weeks, the senior side will begin their own European campaign towards 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
So the drama is set to start all over again for the national side. Only this time there’s a different dynamic underlying it all; the 2010 World Cup debacle.
Capello’s capital with the British press is all but exhausted. This shouldn’t matter at all, after all, what does the press know about anything, but in England it really does matter. The tabloid press seems to...
Fabio Capello must show over the next two years that his employers are right to show faith in himFabio Capello failed utterly at the World Cup, but it is the FA which counts the cost. Following the decision to retain him as England manager it will pay him a minimum of £10m over the two remaining years of his contract and there could be substantial bonuses, unlikely though such success looked in South Africa.Rarely has a reputation suffered such swift and grave damage. A disbelieving ruling body witnessed his line-up score a paltry three goals and win just one of the four matches by holding their nerve to complete a 1-0 victory over Slovenia, a country with a population of two million. Results were not even the worst of it for those who felt compelled to watch the games themselves.Capello...
Fabio Capello is to stay as England manager, the Football Association...
England World Cup winner Martin Peters reckons Fabio Capello and Sir Alf Ramsey are similar coaches, but Sir Alf pips him on the disciplinary stakes.
The two bosses seemingly shared a dislike of WAGs, but we are not sure the Italian tucks his players in at night!...
Flops’ secret nickname for coach
England’s players referred to coach Fabio Capello as Postman Pat out of the Italian’s earshot, according to The Sun. The disrespectful players alleged poked fun at their boss as he began to lose authority within the camp.
An England insider said: “The resemblance to Pat was first noticed by backroom staff. [...]...
I am fully aware that I am late to the why-England-were-eliminated-party here, but as I’ve pored over the litany of explanations on the web, I’ve found that there is an unfair discrepancy of player blame vs. manager blame.
Sure, the England stars appeared lackadaisical and short on ideas, but these are the same players that excel for their clubs under different systems than England’s, so blaming them can only go so far.
Somehow, Capello has failed to get the most out of his players, and that rests with the manager.
1.) Formation Was it written somewhere in his contract that Capello must employ the traditional English 4-4-2 in order to manage the national team?
As has been exhaustively written, Steven Gerrard is a waste playing in an unorthodox left-side midfielder position....
Football Association board member Phil Gartside comes out in support of Fabio Capello and says he expects the England manager to keep his...
Players and staff touch down at Heathrow airport braced for criticism from press, pundits and fansThe defeated England football squad have arrived back in the UK, as the future of manager Fabio Capello hangs in the balance after the team's World Cup defeat to Germany.The players and staff arrived at Heathrow airport at around 6.20am and were expected to check in through a private terminal. They will be braced for criticism from press, pundits and fans alike, after lacklustre performances saw the squad get knocked out in the last 16.The players, most of whom were clad in official England suits, appeared weary as they got off the plane, many carrying hand luggage and a couple sporting pillows.Yesterday, Capello attributed the squad's performance to tiredness after a hectic Premier League...
• Manager's position will be decided in mid-July• Italian says he has had offers from 'important' clubsEngland's World Cup campaign ended on a suitably farcical note last night after the Football Association refused to offer Fabio Capello its backing and left its manager dangling, with a decision not due on his future for at least another two weeks.Capello and his squad were due to touch down at Heathrow this morning following their 4-1 second-round defeat by Germany in Bloemfontein on Sunday, with one of the most decorated managers in the modern game effectively, and humiliatingly, in limbo. The Italian made it clear yesterday in talks with Sir Dave Richards, the chairman of Club England and his line manager, that he would not resign. An immediate show of support from his...
Criticism of Fabio Capello has intensified after claims that he ignored a gamechanging talent for his England World Cup squad. Veteran playmaker George Cole, the great uncle of Ashley, Joe and Stephen Cole, is regarded by himself as the greatest footballing talent of his generation, but has chosen to spend a low profile career at Hayling Island FC, where he plays in midfield every third Saturday.Mr Cole is known about town for his love of cigars, large coats and ‘lovely second hand motors’. He can regularly be found propping up the bar of The Speckled Bastard, regaling his fellow customers with tales of daring footballing strategy in the 1930s. Pubgoing critics of Mr Capello feel that Mr Cole would have brought an invaluable perspective to the England game, and may have spurred his...
