Fabio Capello is only the sixth manager to mastermind an England World Cup campaign. The Italian as a reputation as one of the best tacticians around and has won domestic titles with every club he’s ever managed. Capello will surely have to call on these years of experience at the highest level as he seeks to plot England’s steady course through the rounds in South Africa.
Capello’s managerial career got off to a flying start at AC Milan, where he led the Rossoneri to the Scudetto four times in five seasons. After Milan, Capello went on to taste success with other continental giants such as Juventus, Roma and Real Madrid.
And Capello’s impact on the England team after taking over from Steve McLaren was immediate. He stamped his authority by introducing more intensive training and a number of new rules aimed at improving team spirit and making the squad more focused on winning. This new winning mentality made itself manifest with impressive results in England’s highly successful World Cup qualifying campaign. The Three Lions announced themselves serious tournament contenders by winning all but one of their World Cup qualifying games, scoring 34 goals in the process.
A strict disciplinarian and astute tactician, who is highly respected by his players, there are obvious parallels between Fabio Capello and England’s most successful manager, Alf Ramsey. Both managers believed firmly that individual interests should be relinquished for the benefit of the team. In a famous demonstration of his no-nonsense approach, Ramsey punished a number of England’s players for failing to return to the hotel before a 10.30 curfew by leaving their passports on their beds.
The fondly remembered was one of Alf Ramsey’s successors at Ipswich. Yet Bobby Robson was a different sort of manager to Ramsey and Capello. He enjoyed success at some of Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona and Porto, motivating his players with his infectious enthusiasm for the game he loved. As an international manager, he led the Three Lions at two World Cups, including Italia ’90 when England enjoyed their most successful season since 1966.
With his extraordinary CV and wealth of experience, it is hard to think of anyone better placed to try to emulate the achievements of Ramsey and Robson than Fabio Capello, together with the England captain Steven Gerrard.
