Fabio Capello’s limited English is an Asset

Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson is the first-ever foreign coach of the England national soccer team. He was fairly successful (losing 15% of games in charge) but following a major public outcry, the English FA returned to its English roots by hiring Englishman Steve McClaren, which proved to be a huge fiasco.

He bombed out horribly, prompting the FA to once again outsource the vacant post to a foreigner – this time to Italian Fabio Capello.

He signed a 4.5-year contract worth £6m per year, making Capello the highest paid national manager in the world. Is this sheer lunacy?

“It’s an honor,” amused Capello.

Considering that Capello, despite being successful at club level both as a player and coach, has absolutely no experience of the English game. In addition, he has never coached a national side and barely speaks English.

Naturally, there was another public uproar as Capello held his first media conference mainly in Italian – on English soil. But English pride aside, the fact remains that Englishmen coaches have not achieved a lot for the team since Alf Ramsay won the 1966 World Cup under controversial circumstances.

Since then, England have not even reached a final of any major tournament it featured in.

It’s such a crying shame for the national team knowing that at club level, the EPL is financially unbeatable and in fact, the last three Champions League finals each featured one EPL team.

The 61-year-old Italian, who officially starts on Jan 7, was tasked to lead England to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Interestingly, before coming to London, Capello spoke on Italian TV, “The England team seems to have lost the determination and grit that they had in the past.”

But to restore the English pride and confidence is no easy task, considering that Capello speaks little English. How will his instructions be communicated effectively remains to be seen.

“I am convinced that, in a month (by Jan 7), when I meet the national team, I’ll speak English,” enthused Capello.

Personally, I am convinced that his limited English is an asset rather than a liability. For one it’ll instill a quirky sense of insecurity and competition among the senior England players, many of whom have been taking things for granted. Capello is never one who fears dropping those who are out-of-form and of course, the prima donnas.

“I expect Capello to be very hard on the players,” said Marcel Desailly, who once played under him at AC Milan.

In addition, Capello is able to start on a clean sheet, knowing that he will not feel the strenuous weight of the nation as much as an Englishman would. Truly, it leaves me little doubt that if there’s one man to bring honor to England, it would be an Italian.