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Posts Tagged ‘Fabio’

Joe Cole is thrilled to have rediscovered a manager that has faith in him in England boss Fabio Capello.

The 28-year-old, who will part ways with Chelsea after a seven-season spell at Stamford Bridge at the end of the month, has vowed not to reveal what happened with the club until an appropriate time in the future.

But it seems the midfielder fell out of favour with the side when his career was halted by a major knee injury in January 2009 and returned 10 months later to find he did not feature fully in new manager Carlo Ancelotti’s plans.

Cole briefly reclaimed his spot in the side when a number of his Blues team-mates departed for the African Cup of Nations, but soon found himself on the fringes once again and sweating over whether he would make Capello’s 30-man provisional England squad for the World Cup.

Faith

“For the five years before my injury I was more or less a regular for England and all of a sudden people were patting me on the back for getting in a 30-man squad,” said Cole.

“I thought I might have run out of time even though I had done all I could.

“I had made a couple of goals against Stoke and then in the final match against Wigan people must have thought I was mad because I was running round chasing balls down to the corner. The league was won but I needed to show I was fit.

“What I need in my career is a manager who will give me the feeling that ‘you are going to play here’, that faith.

“I don’t want to talk too much about Chelsea – that is a story for another day – but this season was very difficult for me. I just want to put it behind me.”

Cole has already been linked with several clubs including Arsenal and both Manchester sides, but the top contenders to secure his services are Tottenham and his old boss Harry Redknapp.

And the midfielder could thrive under Redknapp’s management after flourishing during Jose Mourinho’s reign at Chelsea.

“Jose had a lot of faith in me,” he added. “I played in all the big games.”

Superb

Cole delivered a brief yet superb second-half display in England’s warm-up against Japan and was the only player to complete a full 90 minutes against the Platinum Stars on Monday.

And the midfielder is hoping Capello grants him another chance to show what he can do in England’s opener against the United States on Saturday.

“Pulling on an England shirt against Japan after 20 months out was quite special,” said Cole. “If I get the chance this weekend, I will take it.”

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Fabio Capello is keeping the England squad on their toes and will pay no attention to reputations when he picks his side to face USA, midfielder Joe Cole has revealed.

Capello’s starting XI for Saturday’s Group C opener in Rustenburg is far from certain with question marks remaining over every department of the side he sends out, particularly in the last line of defence where David James, Rob Green and Joe Hart are battling it out.

Cole, who will leave Chelsea as a free agent this summer when his contract expires, is hoping to secure a starting berth as he prepares for the third World Cup of his career.

And he admitted that Capello, unlike predecessors Steve McClaren and Sven Goran Eriksson, will select his side purely on merit, with the Italian having already shown his ruthless streak by axing Theo Walcott from his final 23-man party.

Competition

Cole said: “The great thing about the squad now, which is different to all through my England career, is that you don’t know who the manager is going to pick in any position, so it keeps everyone on their toes.

“I’ve always found at club level when that is the case – when players are not just playing on reputation and are being selected on form, fitness and temperament – that’s when you get the better team ethic and the way the team gels together.

“It’s great with England there is a lot of competition in the squad. There aren’t 10 lads coming here thinking they’re just going to sit on the bench, everyone in the squad is thinking they have a chance of playing here.

“The players will leave it up to the manager. We’ve got three great goalkeepers, we are very lucky. They are all working hard and training well. The manager will be the one who makes the decision.

“Fabio is a great manager. I’ve been lucky to work with some great managers and he is right up there with the best of them. You need discipline. It keeps us all on our toes. The discipline is very strong and I think that has worked well and we need that.”

Energy

The 26-year-old is keen for his previous experience of the global showpiece in 2002 in Japan and South Korea and again in Germany four years ago – when he was arguably England’s best player – will stand him in good stead for selection at the weekend.

The Three Lions have come in for some criticism for their displays in the warm-up matches against Mexico, Japan and club side Platinum Stars, but the creative Cole insists results are all that matter once the tournament gets under way.

He added: “Managers like experience, especially at the start of tournaments. I remember going to Japan as a youngster and it was all new but I’ve still got that energy and I still love it. It’s a great feeling.

“I love coming away on these tournaments and it would mean the world to me to play against America and play in my third World Cup.

“The main thing is we get the result. The first game of the tournament is so important. It is not necessarily the performance which is important, it’s the result, and we know we are in for a game.”

View full post on FIFA Updates – MSN

Fabio Capello expects his England future to be resolved in the next two days when he speaks to the Football Association.

Speculation has been mounting over the future of the England coach after Lord Triesman’s resignation led to confusion with Capello’s contract.

The Italian is said to have verbally agreed with the former FA chairman to remain as the national boss until after Euro 2012.

But Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has been waiting in the wings to lure the Italian away from international duty and be the direct replacement for Jose Mourinho, who was recently announced as Real Madrid’s new coach.

However, Capello expects his England contract to be finalised following talks with new Club England chairman Sir David Richards and the rest of the FA before the team fly out to South Africa on Wednesday.

“The situation will be clear in two days when I will have spoken with Sir David Richards,” said Capello following England’s 2-1 win over Japan.

“I shook the hand of Lord Triesman but I have not written anything.”

Keen

The move may also be dependent on how well his side fare in the up-and-coming World Cup in South Africa.

However, Club England’s new managing director Adrian Bevington confirmed that they are keen to keep Capello regardless of England’s fortunes in the summer tournament.

“We will be speaking with Fabio tomorrow (Monday) morning and going over the previous conversations that his advisors had with Lord Triesman about us wanting Fabio to stay until after Euro 2012,” said Bevington.

“That is still our position. We have not changed on that whatsoever.

“Clearly there have been changes at the top of the organisation in recent weeks and clearly it is very important to Fabio that he heard that directly from the people who will be leading the England structure going forward.”

View full post on FIFA Updates – MSN

England boss Fabio Capello will not take Gareth Barry to the World Cup if his injury is likely to keep him out beyond their opener with USA.

The Manchester City midfielder has not kicked a ball since being forced off in his club’s meeting with Tottenham earlier this month, igniting a race against time to be fit for the World Cup with England.

Capello believes Barry, who has become a key player for England under the Italian, is making good progress but the former Roma boss admits he cannot afford to take a player who is certain to miss more than one game.

Capello told Sky Sports News: “Gareth Barry is getting better and better, the doctor said he is really good, but we have to wait until the last check.

“After this, we will decide if he will be with us in South Africa. He will come if he can train as normal after the first game against USA.

“If it will be longer, he will not be with us.”

Capello’s side face Japan on Sunday in their final encounter before the boss announces his 23-man squad to attempt to win the tournament for the second time.

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