Fabio Capello has transformed the fortunes of English national team

By Jim Holden, Special to SI.com, World Soccer

Fabio Capello is the second foreign manager in the history of the English national team. Phil Cole/Getty Images

Sir Bobby Charlton, the enduring hero of World Cup glory in 1966, told me recently that he long ago despaired of England ever again winning sport's greatest prize. He was certain exactly where the blame lay, too: at the hands of a succession of mediocre managers.

It was a shocking revelation from English soccer's greatest legend, a damning verdict on decades of international failure. Charlton said that only now had he seen a beacon of hope and begun to believe again. Only now that Fabio Capello has taken charge of England.

Nothing could more clearly illustrate the scale of Capello's instant success than this stunning endorsement from Sir Bobby, who is still heavily involved in elite soccer as a director of Manchester United.

Charlton has been even more impressed than he expected to be with Capello, whose appointment he advocated when asked for his opinion by the FA after previous manager Steve McClaren was sacked.

The statistics bring no argument. England has won all four of its opening matches in Group Six, the first time that has been achieved in a World Cup qualifying campaign.

What has pleased Charlton most, however, has been the manner of Capello's work. The Italian has brought a serious mood to the England set-up, with strict regulations, double training sessions and an insistence on tactical discipline. The old pampered days are gone, and so are the notorious WAGs (wives and girlfriends). In Belarus, for example, the squad stayed in a cheaper hotel close to the stadium rather than the best five-star luxury hotel the city had to offer.

Indeed, Capello's single-mindedness and strength of character reminds Charlton of '66 manager Sir Alf Ramsey.

"You know, Fabio comes to lots of club matches and he's not afraid to ask you a question," said Sir Bobby. "He'll sit with me at halftime with a cup of tea and he's soaking in everything he can. I remember the first time we spoke after he'd taken the job. 'Charlton,' he said, 'I wish to take England to the World Cup final.' It sounded just like Alf."

Nobody else has sounded like that since '66. And only another knight, Sir Bobby Robson, has even taken England to the semifinal of a World Cup. In the same period, Germany has played in five World Cup finals. Brazil, Italy and Argentina have played in four, while Holland and France have done so twice. Charlton watched the consistent failure in growing despair.

"Every time the World Cup comes around, I try to be as patriotic as the next man and think this is a real chance," he said. "But it's more hope than anything else. When you see the opposition you don't think England is going to do it. Generally speaking, the lack of success of the England team has to come to down to the manager. He is the one who is controlling everybody. They got to the semifinals in 1990 with Bobby Robson and I thought we were going to do it. It didn't happen. Other than that, I've not seen anything to show we might even have a chance of winning the World Cup.

"I wish they would do it, and I feel really good about things at the moment," Charlton continued. "Alf is the only one I can judge Capello against. Alf always had the last word, and what he said went. He picked players who maybe weren't the most popular choices in the eyes of the public, but he picked players with character. I look back and I've thought there's no way Alf's successors would have picked some of the players who helped win the World Cup for England in 1966. Alf brought in men like Nobby Stiles that a lot of people would have said were not England quality.

"Maybe they didn't look great players, but they did a job nobody else could do. Suddenly we had a team. I just get the same feeling with Capello. He's making his mark, he's letting them know who's in charge, and if you're not pulling your weight it doesn't matter who you are and what club you play for, you'll be out.

"I am very happy with the way it's gone. I wanted him to be the manager. I told the FA that I really thought Capello was the one. When you see him suddenly giving the players the discipline they didn't have before, then you can see it's working. The players are listening to him.

"The 2010 World Cup doesn't seem so foreboding at the moment. Capello has sorted out all the problems with the families, for example. And surprise, surprise, the players appreciate it. People are becoming frightened of English football again."

In each of England's four qualifying victories, at home to Andorra and Kazakhstan and away to Croatia and Belarus, they performed significantly better in the second half after tactical changes by Capello. That is clear evidence of his impact. And his gamble on playing Theo Walcott in the most difficult match of the group in Zagreb paid off handsomely when the Arsenal teenager scored a hat trick.

Yet there are still hurdles to overcome. The English media, ready to lynch Capello after several mediocre friendly games, can turn swiftly. Even through the 100 percent qualifying success so far, there has been sniping about the manager's decision not to select Michael Owen despite the striker's laboring club form.

The best tactical formation to accommodate both Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the same side, if indeed it is possible, is also a puzzle still to be solved. Capello has tried a number of options, none of them wholly convincing.

He also requires stronger cover for central defense, while the position of goalkeeper remains the Achilles heel of the team. It is poor enough for Arsenal's Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to be seriously considering taking up the British citizenship to which he is now entitled and become eligible for the England national team. Poorer still is the fact that, on current form, he would be the best choice.

It remains a hypothetical question for the moment. But if Capello felt Almunia would help England win the World Cup, could he, or should he, make sure the Spaniard is selected?

This article originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of World Soccer magazine. To subscribe, click here.