Has Capello finally worked it out?

The post below was also posted at Sportingo.

I think he has. In an interview before the friendly with America he implied that he had finally worked out how to play England. In the recent two friendly matches he finally reverted England to a 4-4-2 formation and ditched playing Rooney as a lone striker. It’s taken some time, but after Sven and Mclaren, Capello has worked out that he can’t play England like other teams, they are almost moulded to play in a certain way and instead of ditching the tried and tested, why not just adapt and play to existing strengths. I remember in an interview, during the 2006 world cup, a Brazilian football journalist was asked about the key factor of Scolari’s success, compared to Sven. His response was that Scolari plays a system that best suits his team, depending on the players available, he later contrasted this with Sven’s approach. It’s also interesting to note that the BBC interviewed Beckenbauer before the 2006 world cup qualifier between England and Portugal. After observing the line-ups he quizzed why Sven had decided to play Rooney on his own, prophetically he noted that this might be a tactical error. But the team went out playing that same system — packing the midfield and playing Rooney alone, supposedly he would be supported, but he never was.

This all goes back to Capello. When Capello played both Switzerland and France with the same formation preferred by his predecessors, I just thought history is simply repeating itself. The weakness of playing England with that formation became apparent once again in the friendly against France. Thankfully Capello reverted back to the old 4-4-2. I have always thought the best way to play England is to adopt the German style of the 2006 world cup — quick and dynamic attacking football. It plays to the existing strengths of the England team, but nuances the tactics with intelligent and flowing football, with players switching positions and playing off each other. I think that is what Capello has finally realised is the best way forward, keep the tried and tested but cut out on all the faults of the past. As Rio Ferdinand stated in a recent interview, it’s not just ball retention but what we do with the ball. As I noted before during the 2006 world cup, putting aside common sense assumptions, England did keep possession in the world cup, but without purpose or penetration of opposition. That is the weakness I think Capello is trying to remedy, how can he get England to open up defences with intelligent and creative play, whilst not simply relying upon dead ball situations. I noted he was particularly pleased with England’s second goal against America (it came from a passing movement), as it was demonstration of how he wants England to play.