t was December 2007 and an announcement was imminent . Leona Lewis was topping the UK singles charts , Kylie Minogue set to star in Doctor Who , and John Lewis had just launched their very first Christmas advert . In football , a week from Christmas , the FA believed they were delivering English football ’ s greatest gift yet : Fabio Capello .

Walking into his first press conference , the Italian had the aura of an elite manager . This was a man who , with AC Milan , had continued Arrigo Sacchi ’ s philosophy and won three league titles . After his less successful first stint at Real Madrid , Capello showed a new side to his tactical innovation to win AS Roma the Scudetto in 2000 / 01 and tried his hand at Juventus , winning league titles in 2004 / 05 and 2005 / 06 – although both were later stripped of the club in the Calciopoli scandal . In his most recent job , Capello had returned to Real Madrid , where his pragmatism was criticised but delivered the La Liga title in 2006 / 07 .

With such a decorated career , the Italian would hope to replicate that on the international stage . At his unveiling on 17 December 2007 , Capello read an opening statement to the click of camera flashes . The then FA chief executive , Brian Barwick , infamously labelled the Italian as “ a winner with a capital W .” Five years later , in February 2012 , Capello left the England job empty-handed .

The Italian ’ s earliest problem was the language barrier . In that opening press conference , Capello sat closely beside interpreter Danny Tartaglia , delivering most of his answers in Italian . What he said in English was delivered in short , sharp responses – Capello also made the gaffe in his first press conference by calling Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard “ John ”.

With the team , Capello had a tricky situation to navigate . Steve McClaren had failed to lead England to qualification for Euro 2008 . The England captaincy situation was up in the air – Capello would later name John Terry – and there was a reported attitude problem which the Italian ’ s disciplinarian approach had been brought in to correct .

Capello also faced a mounting injury crisis . The Italian made things worse for himself by taking the squad on an intense , high-altitude pretournament training camp in Austria . Capello has since been accused of weight-shaming his players , banning butter and ketchup , and exhausting the team . Rio Ferdinand , arguably England ’ s best centre-back , was seriously injured and ruled out of the tournament .

When England reached South Africa , their football was just as chaotic . Capello ’ s team drew 1-1 with the USA after Rob Green let Dempsey ’ s long-range effort slip under him . Speaking to The Athletic in 2020 , Green attributed the mistake to a lack of certainty over his role from Capello . With Green shipped out , things did not get much better . England were abject in a 0-0 draw with Algeria , described by fans and British media as the low point of English football . But that was still to come .

Having scraped into the Round of 16 , England fell out of the tournament with as much furore as they went into it . Lampard ’ s ‘ ghost goal ’, a piledriving effort that bounced over the line but was not awarded , is the lasting memory of a 4-1 defeat to Germany . But Capello had failed to inject any inspiration or dynamism into his team . Having been given the England job to win the World Cup , Capello looked set for the sack .

On the pitch , Capello made a strong start . The Italian found a way to integrate Frank Lampard , Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney in the same team , he brought through young talent like Theo Walcott to inspiring effect and led England to qualification for the 2010 World Cup with only one defeat . England were building momentum ahead of the tournament in the summer , as Capello labelled his team “ one of the best in the world .”

Then things went badly wrong . The build-up to the tournament was marred by off-field issues : Capello stripped Terry of captaincy over allegations of an affair with former England player Wayne Bridge ’ s wife , the FA scrambled to resolve a loophole in Capello ’ s contract before he could consider leaving for Italy , and the Italian ’ s attempt to launch the ‘ Capello Index ’ without FA permission , a performance analysis tool ranking every England player , caused fury at board level .

In many ways , it was surprising the Italian lasted so long before his resignation in 2012 . It was a long time coming as relations soured between Capello and the FA , first after his loyal assistant and peacemaker Franco Baldini departed , and later in a public clash when defending Terry after he was stripped of captaincy over accusations he racially

Thomas Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract . Source : Instagram @ england

So why was England ’ s prized appointment so unsuccessful ? In Capello ’ s defence , he inherited a broken team culture full of dressing room cliques and a mountain of offfield issues . But his authoritarian approach , and limited communication skills , made him unpopular both with his players and with the media . Capello made sure to reject those claims in an interview with The Guardian in 2020 : “ People said the players didn ’ t understand my English but it ’ s football ,” he said .

The impact Capello had on English football was defining – although his success was short-lived . With Thomas Tuchel becoming the first foreign manager in charge of England men ’ s team since Capello , the German must avoid everything the Italian did at all costs .

By Bruno Quinney ( He / Him ) // Final Year Italian , French and Portuguese

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