Whatever team the Don puts out it will no doubt be in the mould of previous Capello teams, hopefully this team will take the best attributes of those previous teams and put them all together in an example of effective flowing football. The attributes that are going to most please the fickle England fans will be the defensive brilliance and technical no-how of the original Capello-led Milan team, the guile and determination of the Roma that won the Scudetto and the flair and brilliance of the Beckham-inspired Real Madrid team of last season.
That brings me onto the only thing that will be wrong with what should be an all conquering debut, it will no doubt be a game that sets the country on the long and winding road of wild optimism, all the way to the 2010 World Cup Finals. However the dapper Don has forgotten one thing, one golden rule that if ignored can prove fatal for an England manager.
That rule is don't make a political scapegoat out of David Beckham; Goldenballs was dropped on the premise that he wasn't match fit, Don Fabio said that it was a decision made purely on footballing reasons. Beckham himself has defended the decision of the new man in charge saying that he knows the Italian to be a fair man who would have made his decision based on football and nothing else.
However this is pretty hard to believe when you look a little bit closer at the facts. First of all England will be playing Switzerland ranked 44th in the FIFA world rankings, even after the debacle of Steve McClaren, England are still ranked some 32 places above the Swiss. Secondly the game is being played in the middle of the English season; traditionally these games are not as high paced as post-season friendlies as the major players try their best not to get injured and ruin their club season. Thirdly Beckham has been training with Arsenal for the last six weeks, the Gunners are considered to be one of, if not, the fittest team in the country.
So why then has Beckham been dropped? The man who's supplied around 85 per cent of all England's goals before, during and since the World Cup did not deserve to be dropped by McClaren and he definitely did not deserve to be dropped by Capello. It seems that being good looking and an international icon is an offence punishable by omission; past managers (Sven excluded) have all tried to use David Beckham as a political pawn. It is almost like they are saying "Beckham is the biggest star in the squad; therefore I will drop him and show everyone that I'm not afraid to take big decisions."
The Fab has made this mistake before, it was around eight months ago when he announced as boss of Real Madrid that David Beckham would never play for the club again. He said that he should train with the kids because he felt that this would humiliate him into asking for a move, instead Beckham knuckled down, worked hard, got back into the team and his goals and assists inspired them to win the La Liga title.
Most people believe this is the end of Beckham, but the end of Beckham will be when he can no longer run or kick a ball, he will never give up and he will never turn his back on the country he loves, that is what makes him so special. If you believe that being in America will harm his chances because of a lack of genuine competition, think again. David Beckham has never been about pace and dribbling past four players and scoring a goal, he has been about perfect control and pin point accurate passes. Regardless of the quality of his opponents that is something that he will never lose and one day in the not too distant future David Beckham will be back to make Don Fabio an offer he can't refuse.
