Fabio Capello

[Scotty Mac]

Ahead of Lampard.

lampard has been pretty good for england of late, and his chelsea form is probably the best of his career - while i agree that i would much rather see gerrard in there, as he can be an individual matchwinner through sheer brilliance, fabio has shown that with owen, its what is best for the team that matters - and the better team player is probably lampard

either way, the selections for the next set of qualifiers is going to be very interesting

 

[Questions]

I still see problems with the Gerard/Lampard partnership when we play the very best teams though.
By then Hargreaves may well come into the fold to sit in front of the back 4.
All in all though I very much like it.

 

[ack]

There may still be issues with Lampard and Gerrard together against the best teams in the world,but of late I get the feeling that players are being picked on form and ability,instead of their name and previous records.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Capello's doing a sterling job, though I think people said the same about Sven early on (I think he did do a good job by the way). There are still things that I don't think he's got right:

1. Owen should be in the squad. If we need a goal in a key game, I would rather have Owen on the bench than Defoe. We haven't been in that situation yet, but it could well happen.

2. Downing is shit. Young is not shit.

3. Lescott? No

4. Jenas is average. Carrick & Hargreaves are better

But that's picking holes in a legendary start to an England career

 

[beorhthelm]

[beckham] is clearly a class above and maybe, just maybe, it could be our time.

i agree but would rather he has time to make a difference. he's hardly a holding player and his style gives the ball away too much.

1. Owen should be in the squad. If we need a goal in a key game, I would rather have Owen on the bench than Defoe. We haven't been in that situation yet, but it could well happen.

2. Downing is shit. Young is not shit.

3. Lescott? No

4. Jenas is average. Carrick & Hargreaves are better

But that's picking holes in a legendary start to an England career

agree with most of that, except Downing is pretty good, and left footed which i believe is preferable for a left midfielder.

 

[Scoffers]

I'm not getting overly excited by Englands first four qualifying games, for me this is the standard we should expect from England. With the players we have, and the experience, we should be beating the teams in our group.

The difference, I think, with Capello, is that he isn't afraid to leave people out, or change things around, and remind players what they are supposed to be doing, oh, and the players respect him, which is nice!

 

[British Bulldog]

Did'nt see last nights game so what was the link up play like between Gerrard & Lampard? I noticed during the Kazakhstan game Gerrard was actually passing to Lampard when he made himself available.

 

[Scoffers]

I wanted Owen in the squad, for sure, maybe not in the strarting XI, but what a great player to have coming off the bench, but now he has 6 months to prove himself for Newcastle and force his way back into the squad, which is the way it should be.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I like the Beckham cameos. Who better to bring on for 15 minutes, to take advantage of a tired defence with a great through ball or cross?

Against Kazak, he only had a few minutes but we scored two goals in that time. Even in his 3 minutes yesterday he almost set up crouch with a great cross. He showed surprising pace to chase the ball down, when it looked like it would roll out, and on the stretch put over the kind of cross, that the likes of Theo or SWP would be hard pushed to deliver from a dead ball.

Fabio has it bang on. Beckham - team no, squad yes.

Now to ditch Downing...

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

the one issue that confuses me, and makes me sway away from geniusm, is why he insists on playing Beckham... for 5 minutes. why bother? its hardly a tactical improvement and unbalances rest of the team. i could understand a half or 30 minutes, but it looks like he's just collecting caps right now.

why is it not a tactical 'improvement' ? ? also, why does it 'unbalance' the team ? Did you see the game on Saturday ? Beckham certainly did not seem to do badly when he came on....

 

[Simster]

I'm not getting overly excited by Englands first four qualifying games, for me this is the standard we should expect from England.

Well we've never won 4 qualifiers on the spin before so why should you "expect" us to do it now.

Capello's doing a sterling job, though I think people said the same about Sven early on (I think he did do a good job by the way). There are still things that I don't think he's got right:

1. Owen should be in the squad. If we need a goal in a key game, I would rather have Owen on the bench than Defoe. We haven't been in that situation yet, but it could well happen.

2. Downing is shit. Young is not shit.

3. Lescott? No

4. Jenas is average. Carrick & Hargreaves are better

But that's picking holes in a legendary start to an England career

Agree with most of that, although Middlesbrough fans I know won't have bad word said against Downing, so I'd rather see him play under Capello than fuckwits like McClown before judging him. Young is definitely class and can consider himself very unlucky. For me, your 4th point is the one I most agree with. I can't believe we can't find space in the side for eithr Carrick or Hargreaves.

I like the Beckham cameos. Who better to bring on for 15 minutes, to take advantage of a tired defence with a great through ball or cross?
Fabio has it bang on. Beckham - team no, squad yes.

Perfectly correct. He's ideal for opening up tired defences, plus Capello clearly admires Beckham and with good reason. Don't forget, Capello ditched Beckham at Real, only to watch him nuckle down and fight for his place and Beckham's form was the reason Madrid finally won Capello a gong. I think Capello wants to instill that sort of attitude in the England squad. You can actually see it in Steve Gerrard, a brilliant player who is an automatic pick for his club side but who Capello has made it clear will need to fight for his place. (It could well be him OR Lampard when Joe Cole comes back).

 

[Mendoza]

It was great to see a manager see something on the pitch that wasnt working and do something about it, instead of trying to persist with it.

By this I meant Theo Walcott. Pretty much every ball was a kick out high up the pitch wide to the right for Walcott to chase after.

Belarus sooned cottoned on to the fact that was how we were playing, so always had 2 men on him. Walcott began to get less joy out of that, so Capello took him off and replaced him with Wright-Phillips.

We then began playing differently and keeping the ball much better using more outlets across the pitch, and looked much more comfortable from there on in.

 

[Scoffers]

Well we've never won 4 qualifiers on the spin before so why should you "expect" us to do it now.

So you don't think England should be beating Kazakhstan, Belarus and Andorra, give me a break

 

[Marshy]

Why?

His track record is utterly beyond dispute.

We have played poor opposition other than Croatia where i admit we were terrific.

Despite the 2 most recent wins, both first half performances were pretty average at best and against stronger opposition we could well have been in trouble.

Creedit to the man for making changes etc at half time though.

As i say jury still out for me, we have beaten 2 very average sides in my opinion, and all of a sudden people think we have not only already qualified but are shoe ins for the world cup !.....stready on is all i am saying...

 

[drew]

the one issue that confuses me, and makes me sway away from geniusm, is why he insists on playing Beckham... for 5 minutes. why bother? its hardly a tactical improvement and unbalances rest of the team. i could understand a half or 30 minutes, but it looks like he's just collecting caps right now.

Can't disagree more. His arrival on Saturday lifted the crowd and that in turn lifted the team, plus of course the two goals he created. He is a great squad player and the best thing is that he accepts that role.

Gerrard on the wing is still a concern, he just keeps coming into the centre making us very vulnerble on that wing. Barry cover this alot, will it work against the top teams? ist been made easier for him the last two games, but when J Cole is available will he still try this or is there no room for such a creative player? Lampard and Gerrard have to expect to compete for one midfield berth.

.

Didn't think that Gerrard did play on the wing! Surely playing on the wing, ie as an out and out winger, is completely different to playing on the left or right side of midfield.

I'm not getting overly excited by Englands first four qualifying games, for me this is the standard we should expect from England. With the players we have, and the experience, we should be beating the teams in our group.

The difference, I think, with Capello, is that he isn't afraid to leave people out, or change things around, and remind players what they are supposed to be doing, oh, and the players respect him, which is nice!

So, before the campaign began, taking into account our absence from Euro 2008 and Croatia's record at home, you still felt we would beat them away. Marvellous condition to suffer from is Hindsight!!!!!!!!


As for the game, after the first goal, the midfield went to sleep and, like they said on tv, did not work hard enough and gave Belarus too much space. Having said that, changed at half team and we fully deserved the win.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

There is no manager better skilled to get this England team playing than Capello.

 

[simmo]

We have played poor opposition other than Croatia where i admit we were terrific.

Despite the 2 most recent wins, both first half performances were pretty average at best and against stronger opposition we could well have been in trouble.

Creedit to the man for making changes etc at half time though.

As i say jury still out for me, we have beaten 2 very average sides in my opinion, and all of a sudden people think we have not only already qualified but are shoe ins for the world cup !.....stready on is all i am saying...

What is the matter with you?

"Clueless" Capello according to you, has got us 12 points out of 12, with a goals tally of 14 for and 3 against in 4 games. With 3 of them away from home.

Is the glass always half empty for you? Sure we weren't great in either first half, but we were excellent in both 2nd halfs. A game last 90 minutes you know. No side in the world demolishes every side every time for the full 90 minutes. Not Man Utd, not Brazil, not Spain no-one.

Did you notice Spain were 1-0 for a lot of last night as well. I am sure they didn't have a great first half but still they won and that is what that matters!

No team demolishes every team for every single minute for every single game, which is what you seem to be demanding of Cappello and every single England manager, that is why you always want them out immediately.

I don't think it is Capello that it is clueless!

 

[British Bulldog]

I dont know how anybody can knock Capello at the moment, 4 competeive games and 4 wins you cant ask for more than that.

 

[Elder for England]

I think what's brilliant is the authority, he's in charge and the players know it - very much like our Micky (thought I'd slip that one in there) he demands respect from them, he tells them what he wants and they do it otherwise they may not be in the team. Ferdinand echoed this in his interview afterwards.

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

Last night was a game we would have lost two years ago and even Saturdays game could have ended a draw. What Capello is doing with England (for the first time in a very long time) is teaching us how to win ugly. We don't have to play well as a team. We just have to play disciplined football AS A TEAM. Heskey is the prime example of this. On sheer ability Heskey would have been about 5-6th in line but hes just like ronsil.. he does what it says on the tin. Ugly and very disciplined. Just what we want. Right now we look exactly like previous Italy teams. Winning games without playing that well. I'll live with that thank you.