Source: Eurosport
Capello glad to have big guns firing
England coach Fabio Capello insists he never had any doubts he could get the best out of Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney for the national team. With Gerrard in such scintillating form for Liverpool, where he effectively fills the same space 'in the hole' as Rooney, it was feared Capello, like Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren before him, may lose something from one in order to get the best out of the other. Previously Frank Lampard has been the man Gerrard has found his immense talent sacrificed for.
Clearly though, Capello has an insight which evaded his predecessors. For, just as in Belarus last October, Gerrard was offered licence to roam in from the left against Slovakia, smoothly interchanging positions with Rooney at regular intervals. The result was pretty devastating for Slovakia, leaders of World Cup qualifying Group Three until Saturday, who found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-0 hammering in which Rooney scored twice. "I always said the important players, the big players, can play together," said Capello.
"You just have to find their position on the pitch. "It is not really down to me. I am manager of England but when I choose the players, it is because they have done very well at their clubs. "It is the managers of Manchester United and Liverpool who have been the most important. "While Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafael Benitez would no doubt be quite happy to accept some of the praise for the position England now find themselves in, neither has had to wrestle with the conundrum of having Gerrard and Rooney - and Lampard for that matter - in the same squad.
That Capello has managed it so successfully is testament to the tactical nous of the Italian, the solution apparently so straightforward it is a wonder why others have struggled to find it. "I have a lot of confidence in these two players," said Capello. "But I also think the players have this confidence as well. They can feel it themselves. "I trust them and it reflects in their performance. This is very important. "I was a player once and I have been manager for a long time. I know that players need that confidence.
"It seems the England fans share that confidence too, judging by the numbers which turned out to cheer on Capello's side, heeding the manager's request to support the team rather than condemn individuals. The injuries to Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole were a setback - Capello quickly replaced Cole with Tottenham's Darren Bent - but Peter Crouch's hip injury is not deemed serious enough to keep him out and Rio Ferdinand is also expected to be fit after scans on the groin injury which kept him out on Saturday came back negative.
Capello has always viewed the Ukraine fixture as pivotal due to the combination of tough opponents and Wembley, a pairing which has proved pretty difficult for England to overcome in the past. Arguably the only such fixture under Capello so far, against the Czech Republic, saw the home side grab a late, and undeserved, draw. However, given the massive strides that have been made since then and the form Rooney is in - seven goals in four games for his country - Capello has every reason to look forward with the confidence he wants to see from his players.
"I am happy because our movement was good and we created a lot of chances to score," he said. "But Ukraine are a good team. They defend well and play on the counter-attack. "It will not be an easy game but it is the most important game for us. "
