Fabio Capello vs Other Top Managers - Has The FA Made The Right Choice?
While Don Fabio has been more or less confirmed as the next England gaffer, has the FA made the right choice or is it another instance of going with the second best. The idea is to dispassionately look at statistics and evaluate the various contenders for the England post.
We look at the club and the country record of Don Fabio, Marcelo Lippi, Jose “Special One” Mourinho, Martin O’Neill, Jurgen Klinsmann, Luis Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink. Just to compare we also have the statistics on Sven “Iceman” Eriksson and Steve “I-can-do-it” McLaren.
Years as coach in top flight
Fabio Capello: 16 years
Jose Mourinho: 7 years
Marcelo Lippi: 18 years
Martin O’ Neill: 10 years
Steve McLaren: 5 years
Sven Goran Eriksson: 28 years
Guus Hiddink: 20 years
Luis Felipe Scolari: 20 years
Jurgen Klinsmann: 2 years
Verdict: Eriksson, Hiddink and Scolari all clock up 20 or more years of experience at the top level. Capello and Lippi just fall behind into the second tier. Mourinho and O’Neill are third tier in terms of experience. Klinsmann and McLaren are relative rookies compared to all the old men out there.
Clubs Coached in Top flight
Fabio Capello: A.C. Milan, Real Madrid, Juventus, A.S. Roma
Jose Mourinho: Chelsea FC, FC Porto
Marcelo Lippi: Atlanta, Napoli, Juventus, Inter Milan
Martin O’ Neill: Celtic, Aston Villa
Steve McLaren: Middlesbrough
Sven Goran Eriksson: IFK Goteburg, Benfica, A.S. Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Lazio, Manchester City
Guus Hiddink: PSV Eindhoven, Fenerbahce, Valencia, Real Madrid, Sevilla
Luis Felipe Scolari: Gremio, Palmerias, Cruzeiro
Jurgen Klinsmann: None
Verdict: Capello, Mourinho and Lippi are the best choices with possibly the most marquee names on their CVs. Hiddink loses out because of never having managed a large club. Ditto for Eriksson , Scolari and Martin o’Neill. They would fall into the second tier here. Leaving Klinsmann (who hasn’t coached a club) and McLaren in the third tier.
Club Coaching Honours
Fabio Capello: 5 Scudetti, 2 La Liga, 1 UEFA Champions League, 4 Supercoppa Italiana, 1 European Supercup
Jose Mourinho: 2 Portugese championship, 2 FA premier league, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 UEFA cup, 1 Porutgese Supercup, 1 Cup of Portugal, 2 Carling Cup, 1 FA Cup, 1 FA Community Shield
Marcelo Lippi: 5 Scudetti, 1 Coppa Italia, 4 Supercoppa Italiana, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 European Supercup, 1 Intercontinental cup
Martin O’Neill: 3 SPL Champioships, 3 Scottish Cups, 1 Scottish League cup
Steve Mclaren: Nil
Sven Goran Eriksson: 1 Swedish League, 2 Swedish Cups, 1 UEFA Cup, 3 Portugese championship, 1 Portugese cup, 4 Coppa Italia, 1 European Cup Winners cup, 1 Scudetto, 1 UEFA Supercup
Guus Hiddink: 5 Eredivisie, 4 Dutch Cups, 1 European Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup
Luis Felipe Scolari: 3 Brazilian Cups, 2 Copa Libertadores, 1 Recopa Sudamericana, 1 Brazilian championship, 1 Mercosur Cup
Verdict: Again Capello, Lippi and Mourinho occupy the top tier. Eriksson (just missing the cut from top), Hiddink, Scolari, Martin O’ Neill are in the second tier primarily because of their successes came outside the big leagues of Spain, Italy and England. Macca is the lonely caveman in the third tier.
Club Footbal Win/Loss record
Fabio Capello: 55% wins, 18% losses, 27% draws
Jose Mourinho: 68% wins, 12% losses, 20% draws
Marcelo Lippi: 56% wins, 20% losses, 24% draws
Martin O’Neill: 69% wins, 17% losses, 14% draws
Steve McLaren: 39% wins, 37% losses, 24% draws
Sven Goran Eriksson: 58% wins, 23% losses, 19% draws
Guus Hiddink: Data unavailable
Luis Felipe Scolari: Data unavailable
Verdict: Mourinho and O’Neill sit pretty at the top here. the second tier would be Capello, Lippi, and Eriksson. Macca as usual is nowhere close. These stats should be taken with a pinch of salt since records across different leagues don’t really tell the full story.
National Sides coached
Fabio Capello: Nil
Jose Mourinho: Nil
Marcelo Lippi: Italy
Martin O’Neill: Nil
Steve MCLaren: England
Sven Goran Eriksson: England
Guss Hiddink: Netherlands, South Korea, Austrailia, Russia
Luis Felipe Scolari: Brazil, Portugal
Jurgen Klinsmann: Germany
Verdict: Coaching a national side is different because the coach does not have the flexibility of assembling a team and also because his major task becomes motivating the players rather than tactics and training. Hiddink is clearly out on tops here with a wealth of experience across a number of countries and cultures. The second tier would be Scolari (because Portugal and Brazil have the same language and similar footballing ethic), Klinsmann, and Lippi. Both Macca and Eriksson though were first time national coaches which should give hope to the other candidates.
National Side Honours
Marcelo Lippi: WC 2006 winner
Steve McLaren: Nil. Zilch. Nada
Sven Goran Eriksson: Quarterfinals in WC 2002, Euro 2004 and WC 2006
Guus Hiddink: Semifinals in WC 1998 and WC 2002. Second round in WC 2006
Luis Felipe Scolari: WC 2002 winner, Euro 2004 Second place, WC 2006 semifinalist
Jurgen Klinsmann: WC 2006 semifinalist
Verdict: Scolari is tops here. Hiddink on a relative achievement level joins him. The second tier is populated by Lippi, Eriksson and Klinsmann. Macca is somewhere after them.
National side Win/Loss record
Steve McLaren: 50% wins, 28% losses, 22% draws
Sven Goran Eriksson: 60% wins, 15% losses, 25% draws
Guss Hiddink: 57% wins, 21% losses, 22% draws
Marcelo Lippi: 62% wins, 31% draws, 7% losses
Luis Felipe Scolari: Data unavailable
Jurgen Klinsmann: Data unavailable
Verdict: Eriksson does fine while Macca’s record hides the fact that most of his games were against less-than-mediocre opposition. Lippi was in charge of Italy for 28 games, in which they won 18, drew 9 and lost only 2.
Overall Verdict: The top candidates for me would have been Lippi and Hiddink. Scolari’s club record and lack of variety in his football adventures just pushed him a notch below. For Mourinho and Capello, their lack of experience in coaching national sides gets them into the second tier. Incidentally, Eriksson also falls in the same bracket. That leaves Martin O’Neill and Klinsmann in the third bracket. Both have to get more experience to rise up in the list. Last and definitely the least important, where is Macca?
Clearly, the appointment and experience of Eriksson by this analysis was not a bad move by the FA. However, the appointment of McLaren was a disaster waiting to happen. Statistics might not tell the whole truth but when a manager lies at the bottom in all parameters of comparison, it’s not something that can be wished away.
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Discussion - 12 Responses
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He is right for England, Klinsmann or Guus Hiddink would’nt have suited England, And Mourniho was never going to coach a national side at this point in time.
He seems right, Although the FA and England fans want him to do well of course, he better after the amount of money he is getting per year.
For me it is a 50/50, He could be England’s better coaches ever and guide them to a great WC2010 Campaign, or completely be as bad as Steve McClaren
Hey, good job on getting the statistics!! They really help in telling us that England have a capable manager, if only in club expereince.
I do have one issue to raise against you article though. You said: “Hiddink loses out because of never having managed a large club.” But I am wodering, is Real Madird not the largest club of them all? I know Man Utd, Liverpool and Barcelona are not far behind, but Real Madird is far and out the biggest team in the world.
Overall I think that, given his experience in international football, Hiddink would have done at least as well as Eriksson. After all, he did take South Korea to a World Cup semifinal…
As much as it hurts me to see another foreigner take the reins of manager of England, this appointment immediately points into a direction of success. Fabio Capello is one of the most respected and accomplished managers in the world. He changes the attitude of whole squads with his no-nonsense approach, and with the respect he has, Capello will never hesitate to drop an underachieving star to better the performance of the team. If becks is referred to as goldenballs, then Capello would most definitely be regarded as “steel balls to the walls”. He dropped Beckham, and was man enough to bring him back into his Madrid squad to lead him to the La Liga title.
He will remedy the debacle in central midfield regarding Lampard and Gerrard. They do not work together effectively, and too many midfield generals (as mentioned in a previous post) conflict with the overall play of the team. He will give players their chances, and reward those that maintain great form.
Even though his staff will consist of mainly his trusted italian aides, i am confident that Franco Tancredi is the right man to solve England’s goalkeeping crisis (Ben Foster anyone?). Neri, Baldini, and Galbiati are extremely proven staff members that can only assist in the success of this squad. In regards to an english coach, hard to say who should be appointed, but someone like Stuart Pearce who commands respect from his colleagues would be a good appointment. I also love the suggestion of hiring Gianfranco Zola. With his esteem and knowledge of the english game, he would serve as an excellent assistant, especially since Capello is not fluent in English.
In regards to Becks, if he performs, he plays. It is as simple as that.
You forgot to put Benfica in Mourinho´s club record, it probably will make his % of winn/draw/lost a bit less favorable.
Mate… you seem to have forgotten that Martin O’ Neill had a superb success rate in the Premier League with Leicester (arguably a much better job than with Celtic). Capello may be the right choice - time will tell - but Martin O’ Neill should still have been appointed last time round.
Guus Hiddink all the way.
Hugo, i completely agree. THAT TIME AROUND, O’Neill should have been appointed. He has an even better success rate (win%, not titles) than capello. But unfortunately, the EFA messed up royally. Now that chance has passed by and it may never come again. So the course of action was hire the next best candidate, and Capello certainly fits the bill.
Im still trying to figure out how McLaren got the job in the first place. His win % is unacceptable and falls into the 30 percentile range. I am a United fan, and so what if he was assistant to Fergie, he has been crap since leaving. What a mistake. Lost the opportunity to appoint a great manager like O’Neill.
1. Hiddink managed Real Madrid for only a few months. Hence for the purpose of analysis I assumed that he never managed a top club.
2. For the win/loss record I took the stats from the last 7-8 years or so for the sake of recency. That excluded Capello’s Milan record and obv O’Neill’s Leicester record.
But whether O’Neill would have been better is a debatable topic. The above analysis is based on stats only and kind of excludes the non-quantifiable stuff.
But yes, anybody would have been better than McLaren.
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