oe Cole has accused Fabio Capello of never fully committing to the England manager's job and has branded the Italian 'disrespectful' for calling David James 'Calamity'.
Capello recently opened up on England's disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign, claiming his side were overweight, tired, and burdened by the weight of history.
The Italian was considered among the finest coaches in the world when England appointed him in 2007. He pocketed around £6million a year but was criticised for not mastering the language or leaving a lasting legacy.
Now working in football punditry, Cole's job is to cast his opinion over the modern game
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
114 shares
And Cole, who was part of that Three Lions squad in South Africa, believes England were hampered in part by the Italian's refusal to totally buy into the role.
'You have to say he is a legendary manager of the game, what he's achieved is unbelievable,' the former West Ham, Chelsea and Liverpool winger said.
'I think it was never a marriage that worked in the sense that, I don't feel like he committed fully to the England national team.
'And when I say that, I do with full respect because I do think he was a great, great manager... (but) you need to be across the whole (thing)… like Gareth (Southgate) is doing.
Cole (far right) featured in the England ranks under manager Capello (left) but was never fully convinced by the Italian boss despite his glowing credentials
'He is really showing the way in terms of what is required in that situation and I felt Fabio, for whatever reason, didn't commit fully to the task.
'But I say that respectfully because working with him, I could see he had that quality. The things he'd do, the things he'd say, he had something. I just think it was always tinged'.
During his four-year spell, Capello racked up the highest win percentage of any Three Lions boss - the one-match reign of Sam Allardyce aside - but his team flopped in South Africa.
After turgid draws with the United States and Algeria, England beat Slovenia to reach the last-16, where Frank Lampard saw a goal incredibly disallowed at a crucial stage of a 4-1 defeat by Germany.
That loss proved to be Cole's 56th and final England cap but earlier in the tournament a team-mate told him: 'Italy were playing at the World Cup and they heard him and the guys jumping and celebrating when Italy scored. That just didn't sit well with me.'
Nor did Capello's recent comments about goalkeeper James.
Cole has slammed the fact Capello referred to goalkeeper David James (centre) as 'calamity'
England flopped under Capello at the 2010 World Cup, after a clear Frank Lampard goal was disallowed against arch rivals Germany in the round of 16
After dropping Rob Green following an error against the US, Capello said he asked his players: '(Joe) Hart or Calamity? "Calamity." I put Calamity in because of the players' trust.'
'That's wrong,' Cole said.
'I wouldn't consider myself in the bracket of senior players who maybe had the manager's ear with things like that. But I just think that's disrespectful to Jamo to say that.
'You can have a valid footballing reason for talking about someone, if you can back it up. For instance, when I talk about Fabio I think of a legend of a game, a great manager, I just think: was he fully committed to the England national team during that spell?'
'We just weren't good enough. I don't want to make excuses. That Germany team went on to win the World Cup (four years later).
'And we weren't good enough at the time – we had injuries, you can't point fingers just at the manager, as footballers we just weren't good enough to do it.'
Since his departure from the England national team, Capello has been asked time and time again about his experiences with the Three Lions - and particularly the enduring criticism he faces.
Rather than specific failures, Capello has always suggested the England team under his command did not achieve as much as they perhaps should have done due to misfortune.
'Afterwards people said things like we were based too far away, the players were holed up. That's nonsense, stupid,' Capello said during an interview.
'The preparation was perfect. [Wayne] Rooney had problems, he wasn't right. [David] Beckham got injured, [Rio] Ferdinand got injured: important players, with charisma, leadership, players you need.'
Cole, however, adds: 'The fact that he didn't... attend enough games and didn't work enough putting in structures underneath, that for me is fair criticism.
'I think to call Jamo "Calamity James" after all these years isn't the right thing to do. I think Jamo has been a top goalie.'
Capello did not want to respond when contacted by Sportsmail but sources close to the Italian insist he never meant to disrespect James and that his commitment to the job is illustrated by the fact he spent most of the year living in London, still owns a house there, and would attend several games every week.
During his managerial career he has won Serie A seven times, including four with his great AC Milan side of the early 1990s, LaLiga twice with Real Madrid, and the Champions League, again with Milan.
No comments:
Post a Comment