Fabio Capello last night suffered the first setback of his reign as England manager when Liverpool's Jamie Carragher insisted he would not come out of international retirement.
Named as Steve McClaren's successor last Friday, Capello has already talked of his desire for Carragher to rescind his decision to step down from the international arena. Carragher's performances in the Champions League, particularly against Capello's old Juventus side, had impressed the new England manager.
But Carragher wants to concentrate on Liverpool and will refuse any plea from Capello to return for England. "I don't think so," said Carragher. "I am happy with the way things are now and I get to have a break with the family as well. I cannot see that changing."
Asked if Capello travelling to the North-West and knocking on his door would influence matters, Carragher responded: "I don't think so."
Carragher had grown frustrated at being shifted around England's back-line by Sven-Goran Eriksson, who used him at left-back and also as a holding midfielder. Capello, who sees his England spine involving John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, wanted to add Carragher to his central-defensive options.
Italy's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, meanwhile, believes that Capello may have to axe an "important player" for the overall good of the England team.
Lippi, who was among the candidates considered for the England job, was not afraid to drop star players during his successful reign with the Italian national team and predicted that his compatriot would also face difficult decisions.
"Capello's most difficult task will be to make a team become a team, something which in recent years it hasn't felt like," he said. "That will be the most difficult challenge. The national team is not the selection of the best players of the country, but in order to make a team you may also need to have to drop an important player that perhaps is not on the same wavelength as the others." Capello plans to study English intensively over the next month and Lippi agrees that mastering the language will be fundamental to his success.
"I have always said that a coach must transmit to his players everything that goes through his heart and head and in order to do so, he can't be talking and then asking the interpreter to translate, it's impossible," he said.
"The fact that I don't speak English is one of the reasons why I have turned down three or four proposals that have arrived from the English Premiership."
Named as Steve McClaren's successor last Friday, Capello has already talked of his desire for Carragher to rescind his decision to step down from the international arena. Carragher's performances in the Champions League, particularly against Capello's old Juventus side, had impressed the new England manager.
But Carragher wants to concentrate on Liverpool and will refuse any plea from Capello to return for England. "I don't think so," said Carragher. "I am happy with the way things are now and I get to have a break with the family as well. I cannot see that changing."
Asked if Capello travelling to the North-West and knocking on his door would influence matters, Carragher responded: "I don't think so."
Carragher had grown frustrated at being shifted around England's back-line by Sven-Goran Eriksson, who used him at left-back and also as a holding midfielder. Capello, who sees his England spine involving John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, wanted to add Carragher to his central-defensive options.
Italy's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, meanwhile, believes that Capello may have to axe an "important player" for the overall good of the England team.
Lippi, who was among the candidates considered for the England job, was not afraid to drop star players during his successful reign with the Italian national team and predicted that his compatriot would also face difficult decisions.
"Capello's most difficult task will be to make a team become a team, something which in recent years it hasn't felt like," he said. "That will be the most difficult challenge. The national team is not the selection of the best players of the country, but in order to make a team you may also need to have to drop an important player that perhaps is not on the same wavelength as the others." Capello plans to study English intensively over the next month and Lippi agrees that mastering the language will be fundamental to his success.
"I have always said that a coach must transmit to his players everything that goes through his heart and head and in order to do so, he can't be talking and then asking the interpreter to translate, it's impossible," he said.
"The fact that I don't speak English is one of the reasons why I have turned down three or four proposals that have arrived from the English Premiership."
1 comment:
I heard this on the radio this morning, Fabio Capello has until the 7th of January to learn English and a bunch of England fans have made this site... Capello Learns English Its funny and meaningful!
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