Capellos first match as England Manager

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Capellos first match as England Manager; England v Switz - Tonight BBC1
Topic Started: Feb 6 2008, 04:36 PM (20 Views)
Ninja Boi	Feb 6 2008, 04:36 PM Post #1
The Lego Master Posts: 5,686 Group: Admin Member #3 Joined: August 17, 2007	Capello dampens down expectations England v Switzerland Date: Wednesday, 6 February Kick-off: 2000 GMT Venue: Wembley Stadium BBC Coverage: Live on BBC One, Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website Fabio Capello has attempted to calm the expectations for the England team ahead of his first game at the helm - Wednesday's friendly with Switzerland. "I'm not a Messiah, I'm just someone who tries to reap results through hard work," said the England coach. "What I'll try to pass on to the team is a winning mentality and being confident in their own abilities. "I can't perform miracles in three days. The important thing is to create a good group." On Thursday they can play as much golf as they like Fabio Capello The 61-year-old's record as a club manager has been one of unparalleled success, picking up silverware with all four clubs he has coached - AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus. In 16 years as a coach he has won nine league championships, although Juventus were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 titles because of the club's involvement in a match-fixing scandal. He also won the Champions League with Milan in 1994, when the Italian side thumped Johan Cruyff's Barcelona 4-0. As Capello tried to manage the hype surrounding England's future, he pointed out that he was picking his squad from a relatively small pool of players. "What is really interesting is that in England we have 38% of players who are English," he stated. "In Spain, a much higher percentage are Spanish players so the manager of Spain has a much greater choice - and this is something that people need to be reminded of." Capello has laid down a number of rules for the England squad, including banning post-training games of golf. "I can't see why they shouldn't respect the rules," added the Italian. "Obviously, people make mistakes but if you want to be part of a group you have to follow the rules of a group. "On Thursday they can play as much golf as they like."



Ninja Boi	Feb 7 2008, 01:25 AM Post #2
The Lego Master Posts: 5,686 Group: Admin Member #3 Joined: August 17, 2007	England 2-1 Switzerland By Jonathan Stevenson Shaun Wright-Phillips celebrates his winner for England Wright-Phillips celebrates his 62nd minute winner for England New England boss Fabio Capello got off to a winning start with a win over Euro 2008 co-hosts Switzerland at Wembley. Playing in a 4-5-1 formation, England started slowly and Mario Eggimann headed wide with the goal gaping. But Joe Cole sparked England into life by skipping down the left and crossing for Jermaine Jenas to open the scoring. Switzerland levelled when Eren Derdiyok lashed past David James, but England finished strongly and Steven Gerrard set up Shaun Wright-Phillips to win it. Report: England 2-1 Switzerland Interview: England manager Fabio Capello Interviews: Steven Gerrard & Wayne Rooney Capello knows how much work there is to be done, but he will be encouraged by a display that dramatically improved in quality as the game wore on. 606: DEBATE Not a great first game for England under Capello, but a steady one with plenty of positives to take forward FA Prior to kick off Wembley fell silent to honour the victims of the Munich air disaster 50 years ago, though it appeared to be cut short before the full 60 seconds was up. Once the action was under way it was all eyes on Capello's first formation and Rooney was on his own up front, supported from the wings by the excellent Joe Cole and David Bentley and from midfield by Jenas and Gerrard. The players seemed uncomfortable and Gareth Barry, who was supposed to be protecting the back four, gave the ball away carelessly for Barnetta to test James from 20 yards. England were enjoying more possession but Switzerland had the first golden chance to score, Eggimann somehow glancing wide after Phillippe Senderos flicked on a Hakan Yakin free-kick. Fabio Capello Capello applauds Jenas' opener - his first goal in charge of England Capello stepped off his bench to give instructions to his new charges, but the crowd began to grow restless as England continued to give the ball away cheaply. No sooner had the boos started than Joe Cole burst into life, skipping past Stephan Lichtsteiner and crossing from the byeline for Jenas to tap in from four yards. Buoyed by the goal England started stroking the ball around confidently, only Rooney's lack of control letting him down before he chipped on to the roof of the net after excellent link-up between Joe Cole and Bentley. Joe Cole was on fire and he set up Rooney to lash wide again before Benaglio produced a magnificent full-length save to deny Jenas from 22 yards. The crowd were starting to enjoy themselves, though they were soon reminded of just how much work Capello still has to do. The experienced Hakan Yakin manouevred himself into some space in midfield and threaded a ball through to Derdiyok, who wasted no time in rifling past James first time on his Switzerland debut. But England were not level for long, Gerrard surging down the left and clipping in a cross for Wright-Phillips to convert from six yards out. Gerrard was finding plenty of joy playing down the left as the game advanced and he went close with a fierce drive that only just flew over the bar. England failed to find the net again despite bossing the later stages, but the victory was enough to satisfy the majority of the 86,857 that turned up. England: James, Brown, Ferdinand, Upson, Ashley Cole (Bridge 73), Bentley, Jenas (Wright-Phillips 57), Gerrard, Barry (Hargreaves 73), Joe Cole (Crouch 57), Rooney (Young 87). Subs Not Used: Carson, Richards, Lescott, Woodgate, Owen, Defoe, Kirkland. Goals: Jenas 40, Wright-Phillips 62. Switzerland: Benaglio, Lichtsteiner (Behrami 46), Senderos (Grichting 55), Eggiman, Spycher, Inler, Gelson (Huggel 84), Barnetta, Yakin (Margairaz 63), Gygax (Vonlanthen 46), Nkufo (Derdiyok 46). Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Coltorti, Ziegler. Goals: Derdiyok 58. Att: 86,857. Ref: Felix Brych (Germany). BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: England's Joe Cole on 7.35 (on 90 minutes). :soccer :brill :engerland :runey



Born to Rune	Feb 7 2008, 11:48 AM Post #3
I love Bread - we knead the dough...... Posts: 1,948 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 16, 2007	It was a really strange match, with a lot of players not really playing in their best positions - And the first half was very strange to watch - The team seemed nervous and a little disjointed a lot of the time, and I think players positioning being off was a lot of the reason. But it was a tough game in many respects. New manager who nobody really knows - who is obviously trying to get to know the strengths of his squad and how they can play. Equally, players needing to get to know what the manager is trying to achieve and with only a few days to do it did come through. I would hope that because we've not got into the European Championships this time around, a number of days is set aside in the summer for him to bring the squad together and they can use it to get to know each other better and work some of that out. Cautious optimism is how I'm feeling after that game.



Neptune	Feb 9 2008, 03:59 AM Post #4
Newbie Posts: 70 Group: Members Member #87 Joined: January 11, 2008	I almost got tickets to this match. But alas it wasnt to be in the end. A pal let me down at the last minute. I did manage to watch it on the tv though. I thought we played very well second half, first half wasnt anything special though was it?



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