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Fabio Capello: Confidence Was England's Problem, Not Talent
The Italian coach claims that the answer to his adopted country's underachievement lies inside the players heads.
Oct 23, 2009 9:42:21 AM
England manager Fabio Capello has revealed that he soon realized a lack of confidence was the problem when he took over as national team coach.
"I remember the first training session and I was surprised because the players were really good," he told reporters at the Global Sport Summit in London.
"And I thought 'What has happened here, they are good players so why are they not playing in the European Championships?'.
"I understood everything when they played Switzerland in the first match, the same players who played well in training played with fear, with no confidence, and I said this is a big problem of the mind.
"Step by step, game after game, we have improved a lot."
Capello has also instilled a renewed sense of discipline into the England camp, and clearly feels that mutual respect between players and coaches is vital for success.
"I don't understand why anyone would not respect the coaches or other people you work with," he added.
"I cannot understand why 20 players have to wait for two players that arrive too late or why they don't respect the rules."
And respecting the rules is also important for the Italian as far as the issue of 'simulation' is concerned.
"I don't like the divers, never. The spirit of sport is to win correctly," he asserted.
"Sometimes the decision of the referees is not good but I don't like divers."
Capello also revealed that he learned a lot about psychology from other sports whilst in charge at AC Milan, where he was also responsible for the club's rugby union, ice hockey, baseball and volleyball sides.
"It's really, really important to know the psychology of different players in different sports, it was important for me to improve my psychology," he said.
"Rugby and ice hockey is about fighting, volleyball is a system of movement on the pitch and in baseball you have to stay concentrated for a long time to catch one ball."
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
Discuss all the latest soccer news in the Goal.com Forums.
"I remember the first training session and I was surprised because the players were really good," he told reporters at the Global Sport Summit in London.
"And I thought 'What has happened here, they are good players so why are they not playing in the European Championships?'.
"I understood everything when they played Switzerland in the first match, the same players who played well in training played with fear, with no confidence, and I said this is a big problem of the mind.
"Step by step, game after game, we have improved a lot."
Capello has also instilled a renewed sense of discipline into the England camp, and clearly feels that mutual respect between players and coaches is vital for success.
"I don't understand why anyone would not respect the coaches or other people you work with," he added.
"I cannot understand why 20 players have to wait for two players that arrive too late or why they don't respect the rules."
And respecting the rules is also important for the Italian as far as the issue of 'simulation' is concerned.
"I don't like the divers, never. The spirit of sport is to win correctly," he asserted.
"Sometimes the decision of the referees is not good but I don't like divers."
Capello also revealed that he learned a lot about psychology from other sports whilst in charge at AC Milan, where he was also responsible for the club's rugby union, ice hockey, baseball and volleyball sides.
"It's really, really important to know the psychology of different players in different sports, it was important for me to improve my psychology," he said.
"Rugby and ice hockey is about fighting, volleyball is a system of movement on the pitch and in baseball you have to stay concentrated for a long time to catch one ball."
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
Discuss all the latest soccer news in the Goal.com Forums.
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