Source: Daily_Mail
Why Capello can never trust Rooney
Sometimes, even with his limited English, Fabio Capello is perfectly succinct. 'Guys, I can't enter into the head of Wayne Rooney when he plays,' said England's manager. 'I can speak before [the match],' he explained. 'I can substitute him, I can find different solutions.' But, he might have added, I cannot control him.[LNB] Capello's exasperation was obvious as he talked about his hope that Rooney, 26 this month and with almost nine years' experience of international football, might learn from his mistakes.[LNB] Flashpoint: Wayne Rooney sees red after kicking out at Miodrag Dzudovic[LNB] Five years ago, the Manchester United striker was sent off during England's 2006 World Cup quarter-final defeat by Portugal. His offence was to stamp on defender Ricardo Carvalho.[LNB] Now, after kicking out in apparent frustration at Montenegro's Miodrag Dzudovoic 17 minutes from the end of the 2-2 draw that ensures English participation in next year's European Championship, England know that they must start the tournament without him.[LNB] Rooney, of course, will be forgiven for letting his England team-mates down again. And the reason is simple. A team deficient in talent are in no position to lay down the law to perhaps their only world-class player. Capello may have attempted to suggest that he trusts Rooney but, when pressed, his reasoning gave the game away.[LNB] 'Why not? Because he's a really good player, a really important player. Because he makes the difference when he is at the top,' said Capello.[LNB] Long walk: Rooney leaves the pitch after receiving a red card as Terry looks on [LNB]'For a long time he has been the best player of the national team and I'm sure he will be really important at the Euros. I'm sure he will be really important because he is really proud.' But he added: 'The player is difficult to understand. When you have one player so good, so important, it is difficult to read everything he will do in a game. He can do something fantastic and he can make a silly mistake. [LNB]WHAT NOW FOR ENGLAND? November 12 - Wembley Friendly against Spain[LNB]November 15 - Friendly date (Portugal potential opponents)[LNB]December 2 - Draw for Euro 2012 finals[LNB]England likely to be second seeds and could be drawn in a groupwith champions Spain, hosts Poland or Ukraine, or Holland[LNB]February 29, 2012 - Friendly date (Holland potential opponents)[LNB]8 June - 1 July Euro 2012 finals [LNB]'I have seen him once do the same (for Manchester United) and the referee give him a yellow card. This time the referee decided a red card. During this game there were a lot of tackles that were so-so yellow cards (but the referee did nothing) so I was surprised to see the red card. Why? Because he kicked, but he did not kick to crush the legs. For this reason I think, yes, he made a mistake, but for me it was an "orange" card. I saw everything.'[LNB]In reality, England cannot trust Rooney yet have no choice but to do so, despite seeing him collecting the sixth red card of his career on Friday. [LNB]Because if the dismissal proved anything, it served as a stark reminder of the lack of quality England possess.[LNB] Furious: Capello was disappointed with Rooney [LNB] England were already struggling after 30 minutes as they eased off from their early intensity, sending Capello into spasms of rage on the bench. Montenegro then out-passed England in the second half, even prior to Rooney's dismissal; this from anation of 625,000 people.[LNB] While it helps that two of them are Stevan Jovetic and Mikro Vucinic, players who Capello would doubtless love to have available for selection, they should not represent a tough test of England's Euro 2012 capabilities.[LNB]CAPELLO'S WORLD CUP CAST-OFFSOnly six of England's flops from the 2010 World Cup are likely to keep their place in the 23-man squad for Euro 2012 next summer. [LNB]The dramatic decline of so many of Fabio Capello's squad since South Africa suggests the Italian picked the wrong players for that tournament. [LNB]Last year's England now seem to belong to a different era.[LNB]David James [LNB]Now 41 and bottom of the Championship with Bristol City. [LNB]Robert Green[LNB]Relegated with West Ham last season and no Premier League club came in for him. [LNB]Glen Johnson [LNB]Hard hit by injury at Liverpool, he has a tough task forcing his way back into the team. [LNB]Jamie Carragher [LNB]Retired from international football, even Liverpool fans think he is past his best. [LNB]Rio Ferdinand [LNB]Has lost the England captaincy and a regular first-team place at Manchester United. [LNB]Ledley King [LNB]England will not gamble on his fitness after breaking down in South Africa. [LNB]Matthew Upson [LNB]Let go by West Ham for nothing in the summer, now a Stoke reserve. [LNB]Stephen Warnock [LNB]Frozen out by Aston Villa for six months, he is behind Leighton Baines in the queue. [LNB]Michael Carrick [LNB]Lost his place at Manchester United to Tom Cleverley. [LNB]Joe Cole [LNB]Unused by Liverpool, he moved to French club Lille on loan to try to rebuild his confidence. [LNB]Frank Lampard [LNB]Spent time on Chelsea bench and his Euro 2012 place is at risk once Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere return. [LNB]Aaron Lennon[LNB] Injuries mean he has fallen behind Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott. [LNB]James Milner [LNB]Can't get a place in Manchester City side.[LNB] Shaun Wright-Phillips[LNB]Not wanted at City, had to settle for QPR. [LNB]Peter Crouch [LNB]Forced out of Spurs, now at Stoke. [LNB]Jermain Defoe [LNB]Has been usurped by Danny Welbeck.[LNB] Emile Heskey [LNB]Just four League goals since World Cup. Retired from England. [LNB] That will come on Saturday, November12, when England play Spain at Wembley, probably in a teatime kick-off.At least Capello will have Steven Gerrard back for that game. Tom Cleverley should also be fit and will surely start while Phil Jones willpresumably be tried in his more natural position of central defence. Capello will have to wait, probably until the Spring friendly international, for Jack Wilshere to return. Along with Rooney, he now looks to be paramount to any possible England success.[LNB] [LNB]If there is a team capable of stopping Spain from winning a third major tournament in succession next summer, it has yet to emerge from the pack. But it is not just Spain that England will struggle to match at Euro 2012. Germany, their conquerors in South Africa, look to be improving as Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller mature.[LNB]Holland, another possible friendly opponent, will still have Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart and Dirk Kuyt to select. England? Well, England fans hope these days, rather than expect - rather like Capello when contemplating Rooney. And there is a connection between those low expectations and Rooney's behaviour.[LNB] Rooney's fuse is at its shortest when he is frustrated at the way the game is going, at a lack of possession and at his inability to get into the action. [LNB]His felling of Dzudovic happened as he became an increasingly peripheral figure and after Capello had moved him to the top of a 4-5-1 formation as a lone striker.[LNB] It was in that position and in a game in which England were, as usual, conceding possession, that Rooney's other sending-off for England came - in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Portugal.[LNB] Capello admitted he made a mistake pushing Rooney up on his own, saying: 'Look, I changed his position on the pitch. I put Lampard on because I felt the position would bring more solutions for Rooney. He could have more one-on-ones and attack the space, I thought it was a solution.'[LNB] There is another England match in which Rooney's temperament famously failed him. Against Spain in 2004, Rooney was a red card waiting to happen after pushing Iker Casillas and going in high on Carlos Marchena. Sven Goran Eriksson substituted him on 39 minutes to avoid the inevitable. The connection?[LNB] That was another night when England barely had a touch of the ball, despite losing only 1-0. That November night actually offered a blueprint for the future of international football. Xavi and Xabi Alonso dominated midfield possession as England scurried about in vain chasing them.[LNB] Their style was responsible for Spain winning the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup. Next month, we will see how far England have travelled. Rooney's temperament has clearly barely improved. More worryingly, it is likely Spain's Wembley performance could demonstrate that England have also made little progress. [LNB] Pathetic! England stopper Hart hits out over Rooney red card in MontenegroEngland have stumbled through again... nothing is ever simple for the qualifying fall guysMontenegro 2 England 2: Reckless Rooney sees red but Capello's men reach Euro 2012[LNB] [LNB] [LNB]
