Mourinho Was Close to England Job...Capello Whines

[Macmoish]

Ah. Poor baby

Guardian

Fabio Capello hits out at José Mourinho over England job claim

• England manager says rival lacks respect
• Capello defends his command of English

Dominic Fifield guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 March 2011

Fabio Capello has brushed off claims by José Mourinho that the Portuguese was the Football Association's preferred choice to become England manager three years ago, pointedly saying he would never comment publicly on another job out of "respect" for the incumbent.

The build-up to Tuesday evening's friendly against Ghana saw Capello forced to justify his decision to field an experimental side at a sold-out Wembley and to defend his command of the English language. The 64-year-old insisted he needs only "100 words maximum" to express his instructions to his players, although he was reluctant to use many of them when confronted by Mourinho's comments.

The Real Madrid manager, speaking in L'Equipe, had claimed he was within "hours" of succeeding Steve McClaren in 2007 only to inform the FA that he had had a late change of heart. "I almost signed up," he said. "But at the last moment I pulled back, preferring to wait for the right job to come along, a good club, a challenge that could motivate me. That was Internazionale."

The FA insisted on Monday night that, although Mourinho had featured on their two-man shortlist to replace McClaren, with public opinion having pressured them to explore his availability, Capello was "always our first-choice".

Asked about Mourinho's remarks, Capello was initially dismissive. "I don't know," he said. "This is a question for the chairman that chose me, not for me. It does not matter. Absolutely not. Every time a club or a national team decides to choose a manager, they decide to speak with a lot of managers. It's normal. This is not different."

Yet his response became more animated when pushed on the matter. "I don't like to speak about my relationship with other clubs or teams out of respect for other managers. I don't like to speak about this. I've said enough."

The timing of Mourinho's comments was distinctly unhelpful given the scrutiny under which Capello is working, particularly after his clumsy handling of the transfer of the captaincy from Rio Ferdinand back to John Terry. That farcical transition has endured another twist, with Terry one of six players released back to their clubs after the win in Wales on Saturday, leaving Gareth Barry, who was not deemed worthy of a place on the bench in Cardiff, to captain the side against Ghana. "It was a surprise," Barry said. "To find myself not involved at the weekend and then, a few days later, told I'm going to lead the team out at Wembley … it sums up how quickly things can change."

Capello's communication skills had been heavily criticised while the furore over the captaincy rumbled on – he intends to speak face to face with Ferdinand in the next few weeks – although he defended the standard of his English after more than three years as national coach. "I think when I speak with the players they understand everything," he said. " In this job, it's important when you speak with the players. If I need to speak about the economy or other things, I can't. But when you speak about tactics, you don't use a lot of words. I don't have to speak about a lot of different things. Maximum 100 words."

Capello has only 15 months left on his contract but suggested he is continuing to work hard to polish his English – "I try to improve every day" – and considers Tuesday evening's friendly an opportunity for fringe players to stake their claim for future inclusion. Scott Parker is expected to start on the bench as he struggles with minor calf and shoulder complaints, and Aaron Lennon has returned to Tottenham with a minor hamstring injury. Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines and Andy Carroll – who will play for up to an hour – will start in a 4-3-3 system, with Capello having spoken privately to the £35m Liverpool striker to discuss the off-field perils of life in the limelight.

"Look, he's young," said Capello. "Really young. His behaviour now is really, really important. He needs to be careful at every moment. When you play with the England team, at every moment you are the focus of the fans, the newspapers, the photographers, the people that live around him. I spoke with him privately. Not only Andy likes to drink beer. He needs to improve, to drink less."

That advice has not been offered to Jack Wilshere, who should start at Wembley, with Capello stressing that "[Arsène] Wenger will be a good teacher for him".

The crowd at the friendly will be swollen by up to 26,000 Ghana fans, although there is a sense of disappointment that England will be fielding such a skeleton side. "I decided to release the players because they would have played four games in 10 days, which is a lot," said Capello. "For the respect of the players, for the respect for the clubs, I decided these players can go home. Because in this period, if you are tired at the end of the season, it's possible to realise really strong injuries. But this will be interesting for the fans, and for me, to see the value of the players when they play for England here."

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/28/fabio-capello-jose-mourinho-england


GUARDIAN

José Mourinho: I was 'hours away' from being England manager in 2007

• Mourinho claims he was offered job after Steve McClaren's exit
• Real Madrid coach says late change of heart stopped him

José Mourinho has revealed he came within "hours" of taking the England manager's job before the appointment of Fabio Capello.

The Real Madrid coach said he would have been Steve McClaren's successor in 2007 had it not been for a last-minute change of heart. Mourinho, who had left Chelsea two months before McClaren was sacked by England, decided late in the day he wanted to remain in club management.

The Portuguese said in an interview with the French sports daily L'Equipe: "I was hours away – I almost signed up for the England national team. But at the last minute I began thinking, 'I am going to coach a national side, there will be one match a month and the rest of the time I will be in my office or overseeing matches.'

"And then to have to wait until the summer to compete in a European Championship or a World Cup? No, it wasn't for me. So at the last moment I pulled back, preferring to wait for the right job to come along, a good club, a challenge that could motivate me. That was Inter."

Mourinho was out of the game for nine months before being appointed Internazionale coach in June 2008, leaving them for Madrid last summer.

"When I left Chelsea, the first month was fantastic. I went to Africa, to Japan, I did tons of things I had not been able to do," he said. "The second month was also good, but from the third onwards it was horrible, just awful."

Mourinho admitted he also came close to taking the Paris Saint-Germain job after leaving Stamford Bridge, but decided against it as he was not convinced by Ligue 1's quality.

Asked why he did not take the PSG post, he said: "I do not know. Perhaps because of the feeling that England, Spain or Italy are more powerful leagues, and we must make the most of the best years of our career by working at the highest level."

The Football Association was quick to respond to Mourinho's comments. "Fabio was our first choice for England manager," a spokesman said. "We have made that clear from the outset."

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/28/jose-mourinho-england-manager-2007

[Macmoish]

INDEPENDENT

Tetchy Capello denies language barrier is problem with England

Coach says he only needs '100 words' as Mourinho claims he was offered job

By Ian Herbert

Fabio Capello yesterday denied that his fragile grasp of English affected his ability to communicate with England's players, insisting after the furore over his treatment of the deposed captain Rio Ferdinand that he only needed "maximum 100 words" to deliver his messages to players.

The England manager admitted during a prickly exchange about his command of English that he watched subtitled TV programmes but insisted that tactical discussions did not require much elaboration.

"I don't know," he said when asked if his command of English was as good as it should be, more than three years after his appointment on a £6m-a-year contract. "I think when I speak with the players they understand everything. I think in this job, it's important when you speak with the players. If I need to speak about the economy or other things, I can't speak. But when you speak about tactics, you don't use a lot of words. I don't have to speak about a lot of different things. Maximum 100 words."

Capello, who is likely to give Liverpool's Andy Carroll his second England start in the friendly against Ghana tonight in a side with seven changes from the one that beat Wales 2-0 in Cardiff, needed the question about his English to be translated by his interpreter Christian Lattanzio and was not happy to be pressed on it.

"Do you understand me?" he shot back. "Why this question? How many languages do you speak?" But the question of his ability to communicate is reasonable, given that he has still not explained to Ferdinand why John Terry has replaced him as captain.

As usual, Capello was disinclined to wait for Lattanzio to complete his simultaneous translation of the question about his English – an impatience shared by Manchester City's Roberto Mancini, who also uses Lattanzio, until City asked him to hear the translator out – and it made for another interview which bore no resemblance to the articulate and detailed delivery for which Capello is known in front of the Italian media.

Capello could have done without Jose Mourinho telling L'Equipe yesterday that he had been offered the job of succeeding Steve McClaren before Capello in 2007. "I was hours away. I almost signed up for the English national side but at the last moment I began thinking ... it wasn't for me," the Real Madrid manager said.

The Football Association rushed out a statement declaring their first choice had always been Capello, who added: "I don't know. This is a question for the chairman that chose me [former chief executive Brian Barwick], not a question for me. Every time a club or a different national team decides to choose a manager, they decide to speak with a lot of managers. It's normal. It's not different."

While Mourinho's communication skills are not in question, Capello's ability to leave his players baffled was written in the face of Gareth Barry, who has been named captain for tonight's game at Wembley against Ghana, despite failing even to command a place on the bench at the Millennium Stadium.

Capello has agreed with West Ham United to keep Scott Parker on the bench tonight and not risk his injured shoulder, so will probably start with Jack Wilshere alongside James Milner and Barry in what the manager said would be another three-man midfield. He cleared up the contradiction of having claimed he did not want to break news of Ferdinand's demotion over the telephone, despite having called Steven Gerrard to inform him of Terry's reinstatement as captain. "Yes, I phoned [Gerrard]. I spoke with him," Capello said. "[But not Rio] because Rio was captain. Steve was the vice-captain. With Rio, I would prefer to speak personally. Face to face."

The impeccable English of Capello's assistant Franco Baldini, who does 95 per cent of player liaison, means that communication with players may well not be an issue. However, reports in Italy last night suggested Baldini may be heading back to a new role at his old club Roma, with a takeover of the club by wealthy American businessman Thomas di Benedetto imminent.

The crises Capello is creating for himself and the FA off the field are minimising the credit he is granted for results on it which, after all, have England top of their Euro 2012 qualification group. Former England captain Gary Neville observed at the weekend that "if you use up your credits off the pitch and you get a bad result, the tide is difficult to turn".

Thus, Capello found himself fielding questions yesterday about which soap operas he watched to improve his English. He neither understood nor answered that question. He seemed to get a joke about the difficulties grasping Alan Hansen's accent. "I understand when you come from the north, one from London, I study very well."

Capello was at his most vociferous defending the decision to send home five players whose clubs have Champions League commitments and sending out virtually an England B side before a capacity crowd who have paid up to £40. "It will be interesting for the fans, but more for me to see the value of the players when they play here," he said.

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/tetchy-capello-denies-language-barrier-is-problem-with-england-2255790.html