Fabio Capello: A man of letters that spell success: The AtoZ guide to a serial winner

[Chorlton Red]

From The Times
December 13, 2007
Fabio Capello: A man of letters that spell success: The A to Z guide to a serial winner

Art Some estimates value Fabio Capello’s collection at £10 million. The England squad may be wondering why he did not spend his money on a fleet of shiny sports cars.

Beckham Capello viewed David Beckham’s agreement to leave Real Madrid for the Los Angeles Galaxy as a betrayal. “He will never play for me again,” the Italian said. But he swallowed his pride when he saw that Beckham was fit and in form.

Certain age Sir Alex Ferguson’s euphemism, endorsing Capello’s senior status as right for the job. At 61, Capello will be the oldest man to take charge of England, although Kevin Keegan looked about 80 by the end of his reign.

Di Canio Capello fought with Paolo Di Canio during AC Milan’s tour to China in 1996 after the former West Ham United forward told him not to take the games so seriously. “Your face looks like a penis,” Capello said.

English Not great, but it will not be long before Capello is making more sense than Steve McClaren, who was rewarded with a “foot in mouth” award this week for saying that Wayne Rooney “is inexperienced, but experienced in terms of what he’s been through”.

Fat Capello could find employment as the Government’s obesity tsar if results go badly. “Aren’t you ashamed of being so fat?” Capello asked Ronaldo while in charge of Real in January. The Brazil striker waddled off to AC Milan.

Galácticos Years before I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! started, Capello was dispatching stars to the wilderness: Alessandro Del Piero, Edgar Davids, Francesco Totti and Antonio Cassano, to name a few. So do not expect references to “Stevie G”, “Becks” and “JT”.

Holding role Good news for Owen Hargreaves – Capello made defensive midfield players fashionable after deploying Marcel Desailly as an anchor for AC Milan during the 1994 Champions League final.

Intensity Former players say that Capello is uninterested in his charges’ private lives but demands total commitment when they are on company time. Real Madrid’s players were reportedly upset when they realised that, under Capello, this meant more than two hours a day.

Juventus In a sign of his pragmatism and ambition, Capello joined Juventus, a club he had railed against for years, in 2004. He won two Serie A titles, subsequently forfeited because of the corruption scandal, which did not implicate him.

Kandinsky Capello’s favourite artist. The father of the abstract movement said that humanity was like a triangle with a single visionary at the apex. This may be why Capello favours a lone striker.

La Liga He won the Spanish title with Real Madrid in 1997 and 2007 and left at the end of the season both times, most recently because the board was bored by the team’s workmanlike performances.

Midfield player Capello turned out for AS Roma, Juventus (below) and AC Milan, winning 32 caps for Italy and scoring in a win at Wembley in 1973 – the first time Italy had beaten England away.

Negativity Capello’s detractors say that he produces dour, defensive football. While his teams are instinctively cautious, Capello will use the style he feels most likely to bring success, which does not rule out an attack-minded approach.

Obscenities In January he was fined by Real Madrid for twice raising a middle finger at fans behind the dugout who persistently heckled him during matches at the Bernabéu.

Passion Despite his outside interests and financial security, Capello admits to being addicted to football. “Even when I’m angry, even when we’re performing badly, I enjoy it to the last drop,” he has said.

Quit Capello is hated in Rome for the clandestine way in which he left AS Roma for Juventus in 2004. Threatened to leave the Italian game in 2002 in a rant about refereeing standards.

Roma He took charge of the club in 1999 and led them to their first league title in 18 years, but fell out with Francesco Totti, the supporters’ hero.

Spectacles Along with the South Korea archery team, Capello wears glasses made by Zerorh+ – “because they match the style and infinite attention to detail, plus the drive and sporting vitality that epitomises him”, the company’s website says. Timmy Mallett and Su Pollard he is not.

Trophies Nine league titles in 16 seasons with four clubs – an even better pedigree than Steve McClaren. But only once, in 1994, has Capello won the Champions League.

Unbeaten For 58 Serie A matches with AC Milan from May 1991 to March 1993 – unbeatable for longer than Arsène Wenger’s “Invincibles”.

Volleyball One of the sports managed by Mediolanum – formed by Silvio Berlusconi, the AC Milan president – a company for which Capello worked in the commercial and sponsorship department in the 1980s.

Winner The noun most often ascribed to Capello and least often ascribed to previous England managers.

Xenophobia A thing of the past in English football? Remember the fuss over Sven-Göran Eriksson’s appointment as the England head coach. The League Managers Association voiced its concerns yesterday over the failure of the FA to appoint an Englishman, but so far few articles have claimed that England has sold its birthright down Lake Como.

Years Capello is believed to have hankered after the England job since 2000, when the FA plumped for Eriksson as its first foreign head coach.

Z zzzz A 6-0-6 phone-in, July 2010: “I’m sorry, Alan, Capello has got to go. Yeah, we’re in the World Cup final, but it’s just not the English way, is it, all these 1-0 victories? We’re too solid. Where is the flair we had under Sven and McClaren?”

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