A brief note on Fabio’s principles

Man of principle?

Fabo Capello yesterday resigned as England manager on a matter of principle. He couldn’t accept that the FA board demoted John Terry as England captain. Capello strongly believes that the manager should decide who is the captain. So why then did he sign a contract stipulating that it is up to the FA board to decide who is captain? Maybe it was the money.

 

“England at last have a coherent model of play”

Just one article for you to read today. Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian takes a long-term look at England’s lack of a natural left-winger and finds it might even be an advantage. He also explains how to get the best out of both Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. In many ways the article is an Executive Summary of Wilson’s excellent book “Inverting the Pyramid.” Not to be missed.

Between the Lines Recommends

Arsenal Column is very impressed by Alan Dzagoev’s use of space. Maybe we should bring him in along with Akinfeev who’s been scouted by ManUtd24.

RoM shows that Rooney apparently is so pleased with the 4-2-3-1 that he reckons it made it look like United had twelve men on the pitch.

This clip is rather average for the most part, but the last ten seconds are pure genius.

 

“Carrick the key to United title push”

The Times got it right this morning:

…but as good as the United goalkeeper and the back four in front of him have been, it is impossible to overemphasise the importance of the contribution Michael Carrick has made to the success of that rearguard action.

It is widely accepted that Carrick is a wonderful passer of the ball, but it is his ability to break up the play with the minimum of fuss and, in turn, screen the defence so serenely that often goes unnoticed because of the manner of its execution.

Players such as Roy Keane and Paul Ince, who occupied Carrick’s position previously for United, were famed for launching into tackles and throwing their weight around, but Carrick prefers to nick the ball away from opponents with perfectly timed interceptions. He did just that in the 88th minute when Steven Pienaar, the Everton midfield player, hit on the counter-attack, while his block to deny Mikel Arteta moments earlier was equally impressive.

And then there is Carrick’s ability to make penetrating runs from deep, as he did to win United the penalty from which Cristiano Ronaldo scored the game’s only goal and again at the start of the second half, when he should have been awarded a second penalty after being barged over by Joleon Lescott. Carrick must surely be figuring prominently in Fabio Capello’s thoughts as the England manager prepares to name this weekend his squad to face Spain in a friendly in Seville on Wednesday week.

“Sir Alex must have Michael down as the first name on the team-sheet in midfield,” Bryan Robson, the former United and England midfield player, said. “He reads the game so intelligently. He brings a lovely sort of balance to more attacking players like [Wayne] Rooney and Ronaldo.”

Couldn’t agree more.