His English was
faltering but Fabio Capello's vision last night was crystal clear.
Four months into the job, the Italian has decided he wants an
England team that is recognisably England. And he wants the real
Wayne Rooney, the man who threatened to conquer Europe, back and
doing what he does best.
At Wembley tonight, Rooney
will be given the role that suits him most, no longer the lone
front-runner but instead the creative hub of Capello's team. For
Capello, the images burned into his mind are of Rooney on the Euro
2004 rampage.
It is the displays that
terrorised France, destroyed Switzerland, obliterated Croatia and
threatened to take Sven Goran Eriksson's team all the way. That is
the Rooney that England need, a player who can improve a strike
rate of 14 goals in 42 matches, who can demonstrate the teenage
potential has been translated into genuine maturity.
This evening, against a USA
team including three of the Fulham squad who only survived
relegation on the final day of the season, Capello wants that
Rooney back again, as part of an England display that will enthral
and captivate. Capello said: "I first saw Wayne Rooney in Portugal
in 2004. He played very well there and now he has to play like he
did then.
"This is his best position,
second striker. He is versatile and has played up front and on both
flanks but this is where he can be at his best. "I want him to play
behind the lead striker, with his face to goal rather than his
back, moving around behind the other striker. "But I need him to be
more ruthless, too, as Sir Alex Ferguson has said. I think the
same. I've spoken with him maybe three times now. And I've said to
him he has to work, that he's too generous, trying to do too much.
He needs to focus on playing in the best position for him.
"So I told Rooney he needs to
be more selfish. Otherwise he's tired, not fresh. It's important to
arrive fresh and not tired when you are in front of the goal. "He
said: 'I know I have to score more goals and stay more in front of
goal'. He needs experience, also. He's won a lot, but not
enough.
"Rooney's potential is very,
very, very big. But he can move better in the future, I am sure.
And that is important for him and for the team." That Capello
should put such an onus on the 22-year-old's shoulders is no
surprise. Rooney is the real jewel in the England crown and while
the likes of Jay DeMerit and Frankie Hejduk are not Fabio
Cannavaro, Gabriel Milito or Brazil skipper Juan, the Manchester
United star has to start fulfilling his England expectations
somewhere.
Yet as Capello, whose
assistant Franco Baldini suggested after the Swiss game that
England played too quickly, suggested a reversal of his thinking,
it was perhaps more eye-opening. Perhaps it has just dawned on the
Italian that the 2010 World Cup will take place in the South
African winter, where the heat will not be the normal factor.
Maybe he has realised that
English teams will never be happy trying to play keep-ball, that
the high-octane style which has seen the Premier League dominate
Europe represents the only real way for the Three Lions to play.
Whatever the reason, his argument last night hinted that Capello
now accepts that England simply must be England - or they will be
nothing.
Capello added: "We sat down
and watched the game against France together. We spoke with the
players about the mistakes and the things we have to do better in
the next game. "I hope we'll see the things that I ask of the
players. We need more intensity, more pace in the game, more speed,
more pressing and more going forward. Maybe you could say more of
an English way of playing.
"It's important to play well
and without fear, with big confidence and with a very English
spirit. "I have asked them to play like that. We have to play
quicker, faster, than we did against Switzerland and France, to
play with spirit and intensity, even if we're not as fresh as the
US players, who are at the start of their season.
"I can learn about the
players from games like this." Tonight is not the beginning of the
Capello reign. But it has to be the start of the real thing. That
means Rooney living up to the expectations. And an England
performance to make Wembley come alive.
