No one's safe from Capello... Beckham may cet century
but even Terry may face axe.
If David Beckham has been worrying about winning his 100th
England cap since hearing the words 'Fabio Capello' and 'England'
in the same sentence, he can sleep easy. Injury or catastrophic
loss of form permitting, the LA Galaxy midfielder will walk out at
Wembley on February 6 to clock up a century of appearances during
England's friendly against Switzerland, Sportsmail can
reveal.
Having initially frozen Beckham out at Real Madrid over concerns
about the distractions of his commercial activities, Capello was
impressed by the way he knuckled down, worked hard and forced his
way back into the side. But if Beckham would be safe under Capello,
who is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Steve McClaren, other
big names have no such security not John Terry, not Frank
Lampard, not Steven Gerrard and certainly not Michael Owen.
Capello is flying to London this afternoon. He is due to meet FA
chief executive Brian Barwick for dinner this evening and will
outline his plans for the 2010 World Cup tomorrow morning. A
morning may not be enough for Capello, but the former Real Madrid
manager is eager to get to work.
According to those closest to him, there will be surprises in the
squad for England's friendly against Switzerland. No one in the
team that surrendered so meekly over 12 Euro 2008 qualifiers is
safe. "The one thing Capello has noticed in the England team is
that there are only three or four personalities," revealed a close
friend yesterday.
"He is fascinated by the talented players like Wayne Rooney, but he
wants them to express themselves. There are one or two big names in
the dressing room that he really is not sure about. "If Lampard and
Gerrard cannot play together under him, he will simply drop one or
both of them. There will be casualties, for sure."
Capello is convinced England's players have talent to compete at
the highest level and even believes they are on a par with world
champions Italy. So why couldn't McClaren tap into that rich source
of talent? Capello was said to have been astonished when he saw a
picture of McClaren, always eager to please, flashing his pearly
whites for the cameras when he rugby tackled England skipper Terry
on the artificial surface in Moscow last month.
The Italian, who has managed Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and
Roma during a hugely-successful managerial career, is not here to
make friends. He will coach the team himself but the players can
expect little dialogue. He will patrol the perimeter of the pitch
during his notoriously intense training sessions, form his opinions
and then post the team on the dressing room wall an hour or so
before kick-off. Simple as that.
Capello does not have time for disgruntled, disaffected or
disillusioned players and it will be left to Franco Baldini, his
trusted lieutenant, to explain why they have been omitted. "The
Italian national team has a mentality that England don't possess,"
continued the source. "That will change under Capello, everyone can
be sure of that. Life is simple for Capello's players. Play well
and you are in the team. Play badly and you are out. It is an easy
choice.
"Don't worry, they will soon find that out." There will be no
pussy-footing around with the £130,000-a-week footballers who
failed to qualify for Euro 2008 under McClaren's weakwilled
management. Not a chance. Capello, armed with a c.v. boasting seven
league titles in four cities and a Champions League triumph with
Milan, will mean business when he arrives in London from his Swiss
home (one of four dotted around Europe).
Dressed in his sponsored RH+ spectacles, Armani suit (Giorgio sends
them direct from the factory, 'gratis Fabio') and a pair of finest
black, Italian leather shoes, Capello has the class to carry it
off. From the moment he intimated that he wanted the England job on
November 22, he has been studying England's footballers in the
finest detail.
Forty years of failure have ensured that the future of English
football will be in Capello's hands when he is presented with a
contract worth £4.5m a year and he is determined to lead from the
front. There will also be increased tactical responsibilities under
the new regime. Capello prefers zonal marking, as opposed to the
man-to-man system so prevalent in the Premiership, but he will
encourage an expansive approach.
Those closest to him reveal that he became disillusioned with life
in La Liga during his second spell with Real Madrid last season. He
was appalled by the dives, the cheats and cynical side of the game
in Spain. From afar, he has always respected England's players for
their honesty and his friends claim he has been revitalised by the
six-month break from football.
Like his predecessor at Soho Square, he rarely reads the
newspapers, but the FA's communications department can put their
feet up for the next two years. Laura, his wife of 40 years, reads
every word and has been known to set the record straight from time
to time. There are no skeletons in Capello's closet Laura details
his every move in the same meticulous manner as her husband and
he always presents the perfect family image.
As for his views on the England WAGs, don't even go there.
