Fabio starts steadily

Fabio Capello’s reign as England manager began with a competent 2-1 victory over one of the host nations of this year’s European Championships; Switzerland. A packed Wembley saw goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips see England home. England’s first goal came shortly before half time after Joe Cole slithered down the left side and crossed over for the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jenas to slot home. Shaun Wright-Phillips profited from some neat work from Steven Gerrard in the 62nd minute to give England the win. The Swiss had created an equaliser through Eren Derdiyok just four minutes before Wright Phillips’ goal.

This new England side under Capello sported a new England kit. The slightly modified red away shirt was a symbol of the new era. However, there were so many more signs that depicted a change in the manager’s chair. For a start Capello displayed no qualms about which players he would be selecting or how they would be playing. There may have been surprises in England’s back four with Matthew Upson and Wes Brown joining up with Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole. However, the most significant vibe was a side that seemed to possess direction and purpose in their passing and movement, which was sadly lacking at the tail end of the Steve McClaren. A 4-5-1 formation may have looked to alien to the England players initially. However once they got over their nerves England showed that under Capello not only would they look like they are aware of exactly what they should be doing, but in true Italian style England looked totally reluctant to give the ball away.

As for the forward personnel, the main topic of discussion was the omission Michael Owen who was not on at the start of the game and did not leave the bench to come on at any point of the game. The morning after rumblings, included odds being quoted as to whether Owen will get to 100 caps or not. That kind of talk does seem premature. After all Capello managed Owen at Real Madrid, so he is patently of the Newcastle United striker’s capabilities. Capello would have wanted to view up close the other players, players he was less knowledgeable of than Michael Owen.

One player who certainly showed the new England manager what his range of skills was the ever genial Wayne Rooney. Rooney showed off his skills with deft touches, long pile driven shots and the power and precision that has made him one of England’s best players for many a year. Rooney came closest to scoring when he placed a clever chip onto the roof of the Swiss net. Rooney perhaps wasn’t happiest in the lone front man formation that Capello was employing, but the Manchester United forward still kept plugging away with determination to get a goal.

A huge amount of the build up to this match concerned David Beckham’s absence. Beckham, who appears desperately worried that he will be left stalled on 99 caps, still has a chance to get to the magical century. However, the world famous midfield superstar will have looked at the performance of Blackburn Rovers’ own midfield star David Bentley and seriously wondered if there was a road to that 100. Bentley was lively from the start, almost sensing that he could stake a very concrete claim for his permanent inclusion at the expense of the silver-footed Beckham. Bentley complemented his wing colleague Joe Cole and England looked like they possessed a balanced pair of midfield attackers.

Every England supporter would love to see Beckham collect his century of England caps. Whether he gets them or not remains to be seen. However, just as the Michael Owen door isn’t shut, the Beckham door isn’t shut yet either. One has to hope that Mister Capello is not jangling any keys marked Beckham or eyeing up any locks that carry the same name.

By Stuart Croucher.