FIFA 2010: Capello’s top five blunders, England’s Golden Generation rusts
It was a legend that turned into a myth in front of the very eyes of the world at Free State stadium in Bloemfontein.
The city of roses hosted the much anticipated clash between Germany and England but it was only the Germans who smelt fragrant while they made the English stink.
Capello the tyrant, Capello the dictator, Capello the savior, lost all his reputation and all his charisma as his side lost only due to an unyielding manager that turned this World Cup outing for his players into an ordeal.
Capello had a remarkable CV before arriving in South Africa, having won titles in Spain and Italy with Real Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus and guided England through the qualifying stages with remarkable ease but since arriving in South Africa the manager never looked the same man. He was more like an unyielding dictator.
Against Germany in the dugout was an ageing manager with dying reputations, his methods were out dated and his team played football of the dark. It was a stubborn and arrogant manager who did not adapt to the demands of the modern game.
It was a man that was forced to watch a sublime breed of talented footballers outclassed to the point of humiliation by a supremely fluid and full of confidence German side.
Capello was touted as the best England manager since Alf Ramsay when he got the easy part right by qualifying for the world but when it really mattered he got it horribly wrong.
His actions over the entirety of this campaign have defied logic and been mind boggling to say the least.
Here’s a list of Capello’s recent blunders:
He made an out of nowhere call to Paul Scholes to end his international exile and play for England at the World cup. How do you justify calling up a man who has not played international football for six years. What message does it give to the players who performed outstandingly to get England to the World cup?
He made his players suffer from boredom and joylessness denying them to go out at nights, having a few drinks and mingle with people around.
He induced a fear in the heart of Wayne Rooney, the fear of a tyrant, the fear of not performing and bearing the wrath of the manager. He turned the prolific striker into an anonymous nobody on the pitch, unrecognizable from the man who scored 34 goals for his club just not so long ago.
He opted to partner Matthew Upson with John Terry, when the West Ham man was even out of sorts against Slovenia in the last group game and the way he was ripped apart by Miroslav Klose last night, you could only feel sorry for the man. He was out of his depth and looked like a man not even worthy of a starting place at Acrington Stanley or Shrewsbury Town.
He picked up a tired squad with no young players; his squad was devoid of any motivation and will to prove a point. The omissions of Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott are logic defying and mind boggling to say the least.
Capello ended a miserable campaign moaning about a Uruguayan linesman who ruled out Frank Lampard’s spectacular lob. It was unjust and cruel but it is part and parcel of the game and happens day in day out in football.
England would have lost the match anyways had Lampard’s effort been allowed to stand. It wouldn’t have mattered as it was not a man called Mauricio Espinsoa who knocked England out of the World Cup it was a man called Fabio Capello.
It is not just about one match, or a knee jerk reaction to one humiliating loss. Capello has been losing control for a while. In South Africa the world saw Capello’s iron will crumble.
If you be honest about it England has been abysmal in every game apart from perhaps 20 minutes against USA, 20 minutes against Slovenia and 20 minutes against Germany.
The fact that the players at Capello’s disposal are all very good players makes it even worse. And the fact that a manager of such pedigree failed to get the best out of them is shameful to say the least.
They may be prima donnas or spoilt brats but it is the manager’s duty to manage and get the best out of his troops. That’s why FA is paying Capello six million pounds a year.
After all Alex Ferguson does it, Jose Mourinho does it, Carlo Ancelotti does it and Rafa did it at Liverpool, managing the egos of the world’s biggest superstars and still getting them to perform on the pitch.But Capello failed at the job miserably.
Yesterday was the end of an era in English football; it was the end of the so called Golden generation of English football at the World Cup. Brazil 2014 will be too late for the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand and Terry. It’s time for a change and Capello, who paralyzed a slick foot balling machine, should be the first one to go.
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