Spiral Architect, how does it affect the team if the coach is miles away when he does not spend time with the players?
He would definetley be there during, before and after games, but there is not reason for him to spend time in England while the players are off playing for their teams. Is there? He would get the game tapes anyway and would be able to watch the players from that camera which shows the whole pitch and the purpose of attending games would be defeated. Yes, it wil tire him, but might not have much effect on the actual team as long as he is professional.

First, Glen Hoddle and Howard Wilkinson have experience of him coaching English youngsters and say that Capello is perfectly capable of communicating in football-speak on the training pitch, in English (Sportsweek, Five Alive 25.11.07).

Second, Capello has already gone on record as saying that he would bring Gianfranco Zola (the former Chelsea and Italy forward) in as a coaching assistant. Zola would be ideal because he is fluent in Italian and English, and also because he is a smashing young coach on the way up.

However, I would not appoint Capello unless you also had an assistant English coach like Alan Shearer or Tony Adams. An English input from someone who has recently finished playing, is essential. Zola would be the linguistic bridge where necessary between Capello and an English coach/players.

Anyway Capello would have about six months to really brush up his English before taking the side into a competitive fixture. That should be long enough.

All valid points. But Klinsmann doesn’t want to budge from California & did a lot of his managing by phone/fax/email etc. Is that really what England needs? I guess in one positive way it keeps him out of reach of the press but in another way i don’t know if English football is set up for that kind of control to be handed over to Klinsmann. As for Capello, maybe he’ll inject some sensibility & grit into the English defensive tactics at the very least. You can always build up from there. As for the language problem, that can be a concern but it has to be weighed against what the FA wants & needs from its manager.

Mark, Ferguson did not mould Rooney into a superstar, he just nurtured his talent. Mourinho took the time to teach SWP what was required of him. I used his example because it is the most striking one, but there are other players at the Bridge who have gone the same way as Wright-Phillips, although maybe not as radically. SWP who played somewhere between midfield and attack when he was at Man City now has a clear job and a specialization. This is all due to Mourinho and if there was time Gerrard could be moulded similarly to play with Frank.

Brian you are tottaly right, those three reasons are just a few arguments Pro-Mourinho, but we could easily name 20. I would like to point out however that he is not afraid to make a substitution. Look at Macca and the Russia game where he made his first substitution in the 82nd minute. That is just outrageous, if a pleyer is not playing well a manager should have the guts to pull him out. Remeber the substitution of Del Horno in the match against Newcastle? 35th minute and he was not injured or booked.

Spiral Architect, I am totaly for Cappelo but I think that he would be kidding himslef if he thinks he already has an idea of how to manage the squad. A manager needs to see what is happening with the player and what they are all capable of before making up his tactics. Klinsman, I would love. He is already proven at that level and has the abilty to turn this team inside-out + he knows English. Anyway I am a bit worried about Cappelo because of what he has done last season at Real. He won the title on the back of some spectacular comebacks (4-3 Espanyol), but really his team was miserable and they capitalized on Barca not being able to win at Celta Vigo if I am not mistaken. Other than that, his record in Italy is superb.

However, you points really impress me. I think you are spot on with your comment that “Mourinho will not have the time to manage his players as he likes. Not only will they not have that level of discipline that is so very crucial in a team which chooses to play conservative football, but they will not be trained to play with each other.”

Part of his success was that he had time to construct the Chelsea giant. However, I would like to point out a couple things in Mourinho’s defense that I believe he would bring positives to for the Three Lions.

1. Gerrard/Lampard pairing: Chelsea was so confident in Mourinho’s ability to have these two work together in the midfield that they made a decent attempt to secure Gerrard’s transfer in 2005 after the Champions LEague final. I believe Mourinho would finally give them success int he midfield; both are world class players, and by establishing roles, I feel that Mourinho would have Lampard take over attacking duty while transforming Gerrrd’s role into the holding midfielder/distributor on offense. Part of McClaren’s failure was to not establish these definitive roles, of which both players are perfectly molded for.

2. Tactics: Mourinho is one of, if not the, best football tacticians in the entire world. I strongly believe that if Mourinho were coaching the Croatia match, England would have prevailed. Why? Not only does Jose make the right picks to start the game, no manager makes better changes at halftime than he. I remeber the Chelsea @ Reading match earlier this season, where the Blues looked completely uninspired and shitty for the first half. Mourinho made a couple of changes, and Chelsea went ahead within 15 minutes, looking like an absolute powerhouse.

3. Proven Record: Unbeaten at Stamford Bridge, if I recall correctly (can be disputed based on certain cups/tournaments). Great away record. Two Prem titles. Not all of it is from Roman’s bank account. The guy simply refuses to allow his side to lose.

As for Fabio Capello, i think he’d be an absolutely excellent choice. Forget Klinsmann & Lippi, they wouldn’t do it & they shouldn’t do it. We need someone who’s as tough as nails & Capello would be the one in my book. It helps that he’s enthusiastic for the job which means that he might have some ideas already.