Capello lays down the law – I wonder if that applies to Rooney?

Fabio Capello is a disciplinarian. He made no secret of his clampdown on the England squad when he took over from Steve McClaren. He found an ill-disciplined group of players who were used to being pretty much allowed to do as they pleased. He banned the WAGS and he banned the use of mobile phones, amongst other things. He couldn’t have made it any clearer that he expected professional behaviour both on and off the pitch.

Revelations

When confronted with the revelations concerning his captain John Terry’s affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend he acted swiftly and decisively to sack Terry from the captaincy. Whether you agree with that decision or not, it certainly fits with the regime that Capello has implemented.

Hot on the heels of the Terry affair came the news of the morally questionable antics of Ashley Cole and the apparent separation from his wife. Capello will not have been pleased and in the build up to this Summer’s World Cup he should brace himself for more revelations about more of his players. The English tabloid press, for reasons only known to themselves, seem to make it their business to de-stabilise the England team as much as possible in the build up to a tournament.

Now Capello has made it clear that the off-field conduct of his players will play a big part in whether or not they make the World Cup squad. He went on to say,

“The players have to understand what I want, if you want to stay with me. It will be very important because we need to create a group.”

When Capello next sees his players for the friendly with Egypt next month he will work once again on the team spirit, which must be damaged by some of the press reporting.

“The World Cup is really important for me, for England and for the players. We have to stay together and compact in every moment. I think this will be my most important job, to recreate this spirit. After four months, we will meet the players next week and it will be a very important game for many reasons. One is also this situation. We will talk about a lot of things because four months is a long time. If you can meet the players every month it is different. We will have two days to stay together but they are very strong days.”

One piece of team spirit that might need quite a lot of work is the relationship between John Terry and Wayne Bridge. With Ashley Cole injured it is more than likely that Bridge will deputise and play alongside Terry. It was reported recently that Bridge has been given special dispensation to be allowed not to shake hands with Terry prior to the game between Chelsea and Manchester City at the weekend.

Reports that Bridge would be unwilling to play alongside Terry have been dismissed by Capello.

“No, he will be with us. No problems about the other things.”

Terry has, for obvious reasons, not be drawn into the discussions about playing alongside Bridge, but he has stated his intentions to carry on for England as before.

“I’m responding by doing what I’ve always done, by looking straight ahead. I’ve got broad shoulders and nobody’s going to knock me out of my stride. I am strong enough and passionate enough to know I will carry on delivering my best for club and country. Absolutely nothing will change. I’ve already admitted that losing the captaincy hurt but that’s in the past and all I want to do now is move forward and carry on giving my best for England. I’m on a mission and nothing is going to distract me. I want to win the Champions League and Premier League for Chelsea and help win the World Cup for England. I’m not ashamed to say it, I wouldn’t be John Terry if I felt any differently.”

Capello may well face a problem in terms of putting out a happy defence for England. He has a choice between two goalkeepers who are struggling for their clubs. He has no right back and one of his centre-backs and captain, seems to be permanently injured or suspended. His other centre-back is not on speaking terms with the left back. It doesn’t sound like happy families!

Heinous

One thing I do find interesting is Capello saying that off-field behaviour will play a part in his selection process. I can see that if Ashley Cole misbehaves, he will be replaced by Wayne Bridge. If John Terry is naughty again he will be replaced by Matty Upson. I wonder what heinous off-field act Wayne Rooney would have to commit to stop him being on the plane to South Africa? He could have an affair with half of the team and commit adultery on live television and I reckon that Capello would still find a place for him!