Fabio Capello will be the sixth to manage England at a World Cup, and the Italian’s record as a manager speaks for itself. He has won domestic titles with every one of his four clubs, gaining a reputation as a first rate tactician with a firmly no-nonsense approach. And he will certainly have to rely on these years of experience as he plots the Three Lions’ route to the later stages of World Cup in South Africa.
He began his managerial career at AC Milan in the early nineties where he led a squad crammed with talent 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 mentality was evident in England’s World Cup qualifying campaign. The team won all but one of their ten matches, scoring 34 goals.
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. Like England’s current boss, Ramsey thought the team was more important than the individual and refused to brook the notion of some players enjoying a special status. On a 1964 tour of Brazil, a number of England’s players failed to stick to an agreed curfew, returning to their rooms to find their passports waiting for them on the beds.
Like Ramsey, Bobby Robson made his name 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. Robson led England to two World Cup Finals, and at Italia ’90 helped the Three Lions to one of their most successful tournaments since the triumph of 1966.
With the experience of Steven Gerrard on the pitch and Capello off it, the England side look well-placed to emulate the success of Robson and Ramseu in South Africa.
