Capello: Carroll has to be careful

05 September 2011 16:00

England manager Fabio Capello has told Andy Carroll he needs to "be careful" about his lifestyle.

In March this year, Carroll appeared to be Capello's golden boy, marking his second cap with his first senior goal against Ghana at Wembley. Since then though, the Gateshead-born frontman's career seems to have stalled.

He missed the subsequent Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland - and the European Under-21 Championships - due to injury, and during the summer he was pictured partying on holiday in Barbados. "Andy needs to be careful," Capello admitted.

"I don't know anything about his lifestyle. It is a private problem that I never spoke about. But if he wants to be a good player and a good sportsman, he needs to drink less than the others."

However, despite not even finding a place for the Liverpool striker among his substitutes in Bulgaria on Friday, Capello's warning was of a general variety rather than isolating specifics.

"He is not at the top of his form at the moment but he was fantastic in the last two training sessions. I was really happy with him and told him he needs to do the same when he goes back to Liverpool. He will be a really important player for Liverpool, and for us."

It would be a major surprise if Carroll was in contention for a starting berth in Tuesday's encounter with Wales at Wembley, purely on the basis of how well England's attack performed in Sofia on Friday.

Yet Capello is considering changes for what he hopes will be his last competitive game at Wembley as England boss. In dismissing the theory that he might drop either Gareth Barry or Scott Parker, who are both a booking away from being suspended for the final game in Montenegro on October 7, Capello highlighted the difficulties his side encounter.

A run of three draws and a defeat from their last four outings at the national stadium is their worst for almost three decades and with the pace of Gareth Bale at their disposal, Capello is anticipating Wales adopting safety-first tactics. "It is possible I will change the style," Capello said.

"I don't think about yellow cards and whether some players will miss the next game. It is step-by-step and it will be a tough game. I watched the game they played against Montenegro. They played really well on the counter-attack and Bale is back on top form. After his injury he only played at 80% of his capacity. Now he is really good."

Source: PA