Cappello and the English Language

Fabio Capello has already answered one of the major questions about his suitability for the England manager job by conducting the majority of his discussions with Brian Barwick and Trevor Brooking in English, and while his grasp of the language may need to improve a little he certainly had enough words to deal with the journalist that turned up at his home hoping to grab a scoop – “You go outside my house” were the only words he got for his efforts!

As the FA and Cappello seek to finalise the details that will lead to his appointment next week, mainly concerning the contracts of those he wishes to bring in to support him, fans will have to wait until the press conference that the FA have pencilled in on Monday to announce his appointment before getting an opportunity to judge how well he speaks English for themselves.

It wouldn’t surprise me though if his perceived lack of English isn’t used to provide him with a shield during the initial stage of hs tenure. With the English media and the hype surrounding both his appointment and the England team in general it could certainly provide a useful way of erecting a barrier to keep journalists at arms length for a while.

Where he is likely to struggle, at least to begin with, are those times when you don’t have the thinking time to translate the thoughts in your head into a foreign tongue. Before press conferences and to a certain extent on the training pitch you can take a calm, measured approach. In the heat of the dressing room it is a different matter – particularly at half time when a manager has a few minutes to find the words needed to inspire and alter the flow of a match.

Rafa Benitez has experienced this at first hand and has commented that this is the one area Cappello will need to work on. “Capello is a great manager. He is a winner. The one thing he will need to do is improve his English. When I came to Liverpool from Valencia, I found it very hard at first. The most difficult time is in the dressing-room at half-time because that is a difficult time for any manager.”

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Cappello for England?

Fabio Capello is looking certain to become the next England manager, at least if the media reports are to be believed, and there is no doubting the guy has an impressive track record. He has managed 4 different clubs (Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus) and has won league titles with them all, as well as winning the Champions League with Milan.

At 61 years old, he should offer a wealth of experience whilst the less demanding day to day rigours of international management compared with club management may well suit him. Clearly he is someone that the FA should at least consider, and his CV is way above that of any English manager that may have been in the running.

However, there’s a slight problem that nobody seems to be mentioning, and I don’t mean the fact he can’t reportedly speak fluent English because while that must surely be an issue if it’s true it is one that can be overcome. Of more concern to me is he does seem to have a track record of falling out with players.

Totti, del Piero, Cassano, Beckham and Ronaldo have all reputedly had problems with him in the past and while no one but the parties concerned know what was really said behind closed doors and what their relationship was like that has to be of concern when considering someones suitability for a role where he would ultimately be successful based on his ability to get on with and motivate a select band of players.

At club level if a manager doesn’t get on with a player he can move the player on, get a transfer fee and use that to bring in a replacement. The problem is gone, and the headlines are soon forgotten about. At international level replacements aren’t so easy to find and even if you do drop a player they don’t go away nor do they stop being English. They are always there in the background, with the media questioning the decision not to select them and asking their opinion every time a result doesn’t go your way. If you keep on winning that isn’t a problem of course, but normally the end result is a chipping away of morale in the dressing room and a build up of pressure on the manager.

Cappello would no doubt answer such concerns by pointing to his track record – in football the old attitude of “show us your medals” still rules and in many cases correctly so. But, there is a difference between club and international football and whilst each share a common skill set they both place a different level of emphasis on different abilities.

There is no doubt that Cappello is a great manager, possibly one of the greatest. The question the FA need to answer is does that mean he has the required skills to be a great international manager?

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