English FA says Fabio Capello to stay as England's manager
It has become a routine matter that after any bad performance, the entire burden for a defeat is allocated on the shoulders of the manager. That is why team eliminations from the World Cup have resulted in various managers being relieved from their responsibilities. Raymond Domenech was sacked after a treacherous spell in South Africa 2010 while Marcello Lippi was shown the door after Italy’s early exit from the mega-tournament. As a result, English football fans across the globe might have expected the same thing to happen to Fabio Capello after their humiliation at the hands of Germany in the Round of 16. However, it has been confirmed by the English FA that Capello would stay as the manager of the team and he would continue till his contract expires in two years time.
This could turn things in a different direction as the English FA would now have to find other reasons for England’s failure in South Africa 2010. It is very easy to blame the manager for everything when the team does not perform according to expectations. The same thing is being done over and over again by Real Madrid’s owners who have changed managers almost on an annual basis as their team failed to challenge archrivals Barcelona. At last, Real Madrid managers are content with Jose Mourinho, but the question is till when?
Fabio Capello had successes scribbled on his resume as well with eight titles with different teams. It also included a Champions League win with AC Milan. These were the credentials that resulted in the English Football Association choosing Capello as England’s boss, after a spate of English failures in the qualification round for Euro 2008. When Capello took hold, he turned things around for England, as the team seemed to regain its top form in international football.
The real test for Fabio Capello came when he had to help England qualify for the World Cup 2010. He responded to the challenge and achieved it in style. England lost only one match and won the rest of the matches. The English performed brilliantly in various international friendly matches leading up to the World Cup as well. Thus, once again, the English fans were hopeful that the team would do well in South Africa, as the players showed a lot of promise and quality. Capello did well to bring in some discipline in the team where many players were coming to the team with huge ego issues to sort out. However, they were all straightened out by the manager.
Despite all these successes, the World Cup was a disaster for the English side. Despite being tipped as the favourites to reach the semi-finals, the English failed to go past the second stage. They were humiliated by the Germans in a Round of 16 match as the English showed their worst ever performance in their defensive set-up. Nevertheless, the match against Germany was unlucky for Capello as a controversial decision in the match resulted in a disallowed goal from Frank Lampard. Despite losing the match by a humiliating score of 4-1, everyone blamed the poor refereeing and FIFA for the loss. Demands flew in from all corners of England to use more technology in football.
Despite that, Capello has to be blamed for the English collapse in the World Cup. He made a lot of critical tactical errors during the course of South Africa 2010. For example, he chose Heskey to start the match for the English on two occasions as the English failed to get all three points against a comparatively weak USA and Algeria. He must have realized the extent of his mistakes when he started with Defoe in the match against Slovenia and he responded with an immediate goal. Along with that, Capello did not play his main man Wayne Rooney, despite the fact that he was the best player in England. Thus, the English side ended as the second best team in their group.
Currently, Capello would stay with England and would have his chance to redeem for the mistakes he made in the upcoming Euro Cup in 2012. All the English fans would be hoping that Capello delivers his promises and they have something to cheer about after a long dry spell of failures and disappointments.
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