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Posts Tagged ‘Fabio’

John Terry’s future in the England team is under severe threat, according to former Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro.

Ex-skipper Terry incurred the wrath of manager Fabio Capello during England’s dismal World Cup campaign when he suggested the players were ready to confront the Italian over his tactics and team selection.

The Chelsea centre-back was forced to back down after Capello called his comments a ‘big mistake’, but kept his place in the side before England were bundled out of the tournament in the second round after a 4-1 humbling by Germany.

Cannavaro, who lifted the World Cup with Italy in 2006 before suffering a humiliating group stage exit in South Africa, knows Capello well after working under his compatriot at Real Madrid.

And the experienced defender believes the strict disciplinarian will begin preparing for the 2012 European Championships by making sweeping changes to the Three Lions squad, with Terry the most at risk.

“My thoughts are that John Terry won’t be on the team sheet,” Cannavaro told the Daily Star Sunday.

Get rid of egos

“You don’t cross Fabio and he won’t want anybody disrupting his tournament again.

“It was absolutely the correct decision for the English FA to keep Fabio on. He can make this England team his own now – and I would actually make them the favourites for Euro 2012.

“When he joined Real Madrid he brought a lot of players in the first season like myself and Ruud van Nistelrooy and the result was instant success but internationally it takes time to build your own team.

“I don’t want to speak for Fabio but I’d be surprised if more than five of the players who started against Germany start the opening game of Euro 2012.

“For me, the only two players that can be guaranteed to start in 2012 are Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney.

“By then Fabio will have had enough time to build his own team and I think it will be unrecognisable compared to what it was at the World Cup.

“Spain will be there but if Fabio gets rid of egos, I think England will see exactly why it was a good decision to keep him on.”

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England boss Fabio Capello has demanded that the controversial Capello Index be removed from the internet as he has not seen or approved of the rankings.

The scheme bearing the Italian’s name to rank England’s players during their World Cup campaign for a fantasy league game caused uproar prior to the tournament.

There were concerns from the Football Association that the manager making his opinions known on his 23-man squad immediately after matches could have an adverse affect on team morale.

It was agreed by the Italian tactician and the FA that the Index would be shelved, only for the scores to be published on Friday evening several days after the conclusion of the tournament in South Africa.

Immediate steps

However, Capello has now insisted that he had no knowledge that the rankings bearing his name were to be made public and has demanded their immediate removal.

A statement from the FA read: “The index ratings had not been seen or approved by Mr Capello, were published without his knowledge and that his representatives have taken immediate steps to have the material taken down.”

England’s miserable campaign came to a shuddering halt in the second round when they were humbled 4-1 by Germany to suffer their worst-ever World Cup defeat.

Goalkeeper Robert Green was the lowest ranked player in the Index, scoring 51.67 out of 100 following his blunder in the opening game against USA which saw him dropped for the remainder of the tournament.

Statistical system

Out-of-form striker Wayne Rooney scored 58.87 for his efforts over the four games, with Emile Heskey managing 60.15 and Jermain Defoe – who scored the winner against Slovenia – managing 62.47.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was regarded as England’s best midfielder with a tally of 61.09 while captain Steven Gerrard scored 60.98 and Frank Lampard 58.58.

The leading player in the Capello Index was Uruguay forward Diego Forlan, who scored 65.77.

The website uses a statistical system devised by Capello to analyse each player’s performance and award a final score out of 100, rather than requiring the Italian to make a judgment call on each match.

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Fabio Capello’s controversial ‘Capello Index’ ratings of England’s World Cup performances have been published.

The Italian coach caused uproar prior to this summer’s showpiece in South Africa when it emerged that he intended to rate the showings of his players after each game, and make his thoughts public knowledge.

He was eventually persuaded by the Football Association to shelve that idea, as it was decided that scores should not be handed out until the tournament was over.

That time has now come and, with England having fared dismally on the world stage, the results have been eagerly anticipated.

The ratings, which are used in a fantasy league game, make for intriguing reading, with Capello’s take on events in South Africa raising a few eyebrows.

Wrath

Unsurprisingly, Robert Green’s horror show in England’s opener against the United States, in which he let a tame Clint Dempsey shot slip through his grasp, sees him finish bottom of the pile when it comes to the Three Lions.

Joe Cole and Gareth Barry also failed to impress, while Wayne Rooney’s average score over the course of the four games he played was topped by the much-maligned Emile Heskey.

Of those at the opposite end of the scale, Jermain Defore takes the spoils as England’s most effective performer, while Shaun Wright-Phillips and national skipper Steven Gerrard also deemed to have done well.

It is, however, worth pointing out that Defoe’s average score of 62.47 still falls some way short of the 65.77 awarded to Uruguay’s talismanic frontman Diego Forlan, the man rated as the best player at the tournament by Capello.

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England manager Fabio Capello has accused John Terry of making a ‘big mistake’ with the comments made at Sunday’s press conference.

In the wake of last week’s disappointing goalless draw with Algeria, defender Terry outlined his grievances to the media.

The Chelsea captain indicated he would confront Capello at a team meeting at their Rustenburg base.

However, reports claimed on Monday that, after being persuaded otherwise, Terry opted not to speak out at the meeting.

In response to Terry’s comments, Capello said in a television interview: “When you speak, you have to speak privately, not with you [the media].

“This is a big mistake. This is a very big mistake.

“I know sometime some players want to speak more with you than with the other players. The mistake is you have to speak with the players, with me, with the dressing room.

Big mistake

“It was a big mistake, but I hope that sometime out of the big mistake will come the big performance.

“I hope that this will be important for the next game.”

When quizzed on whether clear-the-air talks were scheduled, the Italian coach said: “I spoke with some players.

“I think it’s only John Terry said this. Nobody has spoken with me about problems.

“My door is open always. If you want to speak with me, you can speak with me.

“Every time we have a meeting I say to the captain ‘any problems?’.

Cole

“Just yesterday, John Terry said this. I don’t understand why.”

England face Slovenia in Group C on Wednesday aware that a victory is likely to be essential if they are to reach the last 16.

And for the crunch clash, Terry championed the involvement of Joe Cole, who has yet to feature in South Africa.

But Capello stressed any selection decision remains with him, adding: “It is another mistake when you speak about one player because there is no respect for the players that play before.

“Always the players think individually, I have to think about the team, it’s important. When you speak you have to be careful.

“I respect Joe Cole. But he is one of the 23 players I have here.”

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Fabio Capello has accused Franz Beckenbauer of showing a lack of respect to England after his recent comments.

The Three Lions coach also lambasted the adidas Jabulani World Cup ball as the worst he has ever come across.

Germany legend Beckenbauer accused England of adopting a ‘kick and rush’ approach in their opening Group C draw against the United States and claimed they had gone backwards under the Italian.

Capello was clearly riled by the comments and suggested Beckenbauer, nicknamed Der Kaiser from his playing days, would be wise to keep his opinions to himself in future.

Respect

“I am surprised by his comments,” he said. “When you speak about another team you should always respect them.

“It is easy to speak about a team when you sit in the stand. But you have to see the game live.

“We didn’t play the long ball. We played a lot of passes and had chances to score.

“For this reason, I don’t understand what Beckenbauer said.”

Terrible

Capello is equally unhappy with the controversial Jabulani ball, produced specifically for this tournament, which has attracted criticism from all quarters.

“This is the worst ball that I have seen in my life,” he said. “It is terrible for the players.

“It is terrible for the keepers because it is impossible to follow the trajectory.

“When you try to switch the ball with long passes it is really difficult to understand where it is going to go.

“But the really big problem is that sometimes this ball is impossible to control.”

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