Mi Scusi Capello, Rooney was right all along

Ten days after Wayne Rooney said, “We are more relaxed (ahead of the Ukraine game). It helps all the coaching staff being English and no words are lost in translation,” Capello finally took the time from his “leisure” to rebuff his comments.

It took six days for Capello’s former England assistant, Galbiati to digest what Rooney had said and brand him as being “Ungrateful”.

Capello took another five days to sleep on it and prepare a fitting reply.

What Rooney said was indeed “lost in translation”.

Perhaps, Capello doesn’t realize that England have already set sail for home. You cannot unnerve the ‘Three Lions’ that ran away from the fight with their tails between their legs.

This is a classic case of repressed emotions, and it is understandable after recently going through a bad divorce with the England FA.

When Rooney was given a three match ban from the Euro Championship, Capello fought the ban tooth and nail to reduce it down to just two matches.

‘Being honest, if it had stayed at a three-game ban I wouldn’t have expected to be here,’ Rooney said.

‘I was delighted Capello fought so hard.

‘We both went over to Switzerland, appealed it and got lucky to get it down to two games.

‘He did (go out on a limb) and I am grateful for that.

‘Basically, he said when we went out there, if there’s one percent of getting the ban down we have to try for it.’

Rooney would have meant good for Capello ten days back, but the Italian simply jumped the gun.

Bitching about Rooney to refresh our memories about his existence is too crass for a manager of his stature.

“After watching the last game (the Euro 2012 quarter-final defeat by Italy), I think that Rooney understands only Scottish,” said Capello in comments published in the English press.

“That’s because he only plays well in Manchester, where Sir Alex Ferguson speaks Scottish.”

Crying over spilled milk is like trying to bend over backwards to please John Terry and putting your job on the line.

Capello’s lack of success with the English football team can be best described by his inability to learn the English language. In his four years in England, he was paid £6 million pounds a year to sit through a few league games and feign interest in Theo Walcott. He did not change the way England played and it showed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Their progress was stunted and England’s player development had stagnated.

What kept Capello going was his perseverance with the players at his disposal. He stuck with them despite the obvious flaws in their design. Who better than John Terry to testify for Capello?

As we speak, Capello is without a job, and he is not getting any younger at 66. He was sacked twice by his previous employers and was forced to resign by the English FA due to the fracas created by former captain John Terry.

He has reached the crossroads in his managerial career; he has to choose between being ridiculed as a television pundit on every match day, or checking into a retirement home.

Capello needs to retire to the armchair and probably come out with an autobiography giving a fly on the wall description of what it was like sitting in the English dressing room.

In defence of Wayne Rooney, he is not the first player to voice his opinion about Capello’s management.

Theo Walcott in his last book, Theo: Growing up fast, writes about how “confused” he was by the manager’s instructions and “never quite knew what was required” of him.

“It was the second day, and I made a run inside from my position out wide on the right. Suddenly Mr Capello started screaming at me at the top of his voice. ‘Theo,’ he was yelling.

‘I will kill you if you come inside like that again.’ Despite Mr Capello’s outburst, I never quite knew what was required of me.

I was confused. I had been injured so much that season that my confidence was fragile, but no one helped me.

If you are the boss, surely you want everyone playing well and you want to encourage everyone. It killed me and I felt it wasn’t fair.”