As Fabio Capello trudged wearily away from his latest grilling at the hands of the English media, the Italian’s stern features looked more tortured than usual.
With England’s ignominious World Cup exit against old rivals Germany still fresh in the memory, Capello returned home from Wembley after his side’s friendly against Hungary in no doubt that the gloves had come off in his relationship with the press.
Before England’s abject failure in South Africa, Capello had surfed a wave of positive publicity thanks to an impressive qualifying campaign. He was regarded as the manager with the midas touch, the hard-nosed disciplinarian who had found a way to mold England’s collection of talented underachievers into a cohesive unit, but the wheels began to fall off England’s World Cup bandwagon from the moment Capello dithered over his squad for the tournament and the former AC Milan coach was unable to recover control of the situation as the team lurched from one listless performance to another.
After scrapping through their group, England’s robotic style of play was made to look prehistoric by Germany’s young stars and a 4-1 second-round defeat left Capello and his players with seriously tarnished reputations.
John Terry, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney were all booed by the Wembley crowd during England’s lackluster win over Hungary last month, but it is Capello who continues to suffer most from the nation’s World Cup hangover.
His decision to announce that David Beckham was “too old” to continue as an England international during a television interview was hardly a bombshell, considering the former Manchester United star is 35 and clearly past his best, but, with Capello’s popularity rating at an all-time low, it was a convenient stick to beat him with and the Italian was widely accused of disrespecting an England great.
Even Capello’s decision to send Arsenal starlet Jack Wilshire back to the England under-21 squad after giving him his debut against Hungary drew an angry response from one tabloid, who used their back page to label him a “Jackass,” complete with donkey ears super-imposed on a picture of the coach.
In this climate of extreme cynicism, Capello has to somehow rebuild his squad’s bruised egos and shattered morale sufficiently for them to qualify for Euro 2012.
On paper, a group comprised of Bulgaria, Switzerland, Wales and Montenegro does not appear to pose too many problems.
Reports of unrest among the squad were commonplace throughout the World Cup, however, and the dysfunction could paralyze the campaign unless Capello can recapture the positive mood of 12 months ago.
It would help if Rooney, who cut a forlorn figure in South Africa, is back to his best when the bid for redemption starts with Bulgaria at Wembley tomorrow and a trip to Switzerland on Tuesday, but before a ball has even been kicked, Capello could be forgiven for cursing his luck.
Injuries to John Terry, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora have forced him to recall several players who had been ignored for the Hungary match. The likes of Matthew Upson, Peter Crouch, Ben Foster, Michael Carrick and Shaun Wright-Phillips are all back in the squad, leaving Capello’s post-World Cup declaration that youth was the way forward looking a little hollow.
Instead, he will rely on a familiar cast of characters to erase those bitter World Cup memories and win some breathing space.
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