The Capello Project 2010

Fabio Capello’s vision for England has appeared unwavering from early in the qualifiers. The approach and favoured personnel have been pretty well established from the first round of qualifiers in autumn 2008.

Capello favours a secure central midfield with Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard taking up restrained roles, with a core brief to occupy the space in front of defence. Barry has what is closest to a holding role while Lampard has more scope to press forward, but his role is still more reserved than under previous England managers and at club level. This is a progressive development under Capello and helps England to control games in the middle of the pitch (although it did not provide an impervious shield, as cleansheets were scarce over the qualifiers). It seems to have brought out the best of Lampard at international level: he has been England’s most consistent performer since Capello’s arrival.

Capello also looks to the centre-forward to provide an advanced fulcrum to the team structure. Emile Heskey has remained first choice centre-forward despite his lack of international and domestic goals. His pace and power help to make space for those in behind him and his contribution to the team offsets his lack of confidence in front of goal. Wayne Rooney partners Heskey in attack but can be considered more of a support striker, as he drops deep and wide in search of space.

At wide midfield, pace seems favoured on the right with Theo Walcott first-choice when fit and Aaron Lennon a possible replacement. Joe Cole was injured early in the qualifiers so Steven Gerrard established himself at left-midfield. Gerrard usually has the licence to drift infield, with Rooney countering this by covering on the left. Before Capello’s arrival, Gerrard never really replicated his club form for England: a more defined role on the left seems to have helped but it will be interesting to see if his place is now challenged by Cole, who is fit again. With Barry and Lampard conservative in central midfield, it is important that the wide midfielders can push forward to support the attack.

At the back, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry are the centre-backs with Ashley Cole on the left. Perhaps the key switch in personnel over the qualifiers was Glen Johnson supplanting Wes Brown at right-back. Johnson initially had his chance as a result of Brown’s injury but is now, seemingly, undisputed first-choice: he offers more attacking presence than Brown but is perhaps less secure defensively. Robert Green and David James are vying for the keeper’s jersey.

With Lampard and Barry steady in the middle and Rooney dropping off Heskey, this could be considered a 4-2-3-1 approach (it’s perhaps even best expressed as 4-2-2-1-1). I’d view this more as a tweak from 4-4-2 rather than a standard 4-5-1 . When Rooney is unavailable, Capello does tend to go for two centre forwards rather than search for an advanced central midfielder as replacement. For example, against Belarus in the final qualifier he paired Peter Crouch and Gabriel Agbonlahor in attack. Capello has therefore not abandoned the English comfort blanket of 4-4-2, but has adjusted it to fit the requirements of contemporary international football.