SOCCER/Switzerland v England:THE PRAGMATIST in Fabio Capello revealed itself last night. The England coach confirmed Wayne Rooney will start this evening's awkward Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland, having stressed that allegations surrounding the striker's private life are "his problem".
Capello has scrutinised Rooney’s demeanour in training sessions at London Colney and, last night, at the St Jakob Park Stadium and has spoken to the Manchester United striker after allegations were published in two Sunday newspapers. There had been concerns within the coaching staff regarding Rooney’s state of mind but the manager has been reassured by the 24-year-old’s response. Rooney has insisted he is ready to play.
The Italian stressed to Rooney the need to keep private and professional issues apart and he is confident the striker will perform as well as he did last Friday, in the 4-0 Group G victory against Bulgaria.
“He will play,” said Capello. “I monitored him during training and he was good and focused on the game. I think he forgets any problems he has while he is on the pitch. We’ve spoken – private things – and it’s important he plays. You have to separate, to divide, your private life from your job. You have to be strong to divide the two: living the job really well and finding solutions to the problems are two different things. My job is the first part. The other part is his problem. I am the manager. They are the players. I spoke with him and he said he wanted to play against Switzerland and that he is focused.”
Capello has left himself open to accusations of double standards, given his dismissal of John Terry as captain earlier this year, after revelations over the defender’s private life, albeit that those stories had an effect on an international team-mate, Wayne Bridge. Asked what the difference was between the two cases, the Italian fell short of simply pointing to his team’s trickiest test in the group and said: “John Terry played all the games after what happened. It was only the armband [that he lost]. I felt it was important to do that. He is still like a captain of the England team.
“Rooney is an important player for England, for the young people and for all English people. But I have read that things like this happen in other parts of the world too. In France. In Germany. This is England. At the moment, we have to be focused on the game and not on other things. But I have to be ready for everything in my job.”
Rooney was enthusiastic in training at St Jakob Park last night, staying behind after the session to practise his shooting as he looks for a first international goal in a year.
The Switzerland manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, had suggested it would be impossible for Rooney not to be troubled on some level by the newspaper stories. “I’m no psychologist but of course, such a thing will weigh on a player’s mind,” Hitzfeld said. “But a coach isn’t going to pass on a player of his calibre.”
The striker’s team-mates are convinced he is in the right frame of mind to play. “I spoke to him at lunch about the game and he seems okay and ready to play,” said the England captain, Steven Gerrard. “I haven’t spoken to him about the allegations. Who am I to talk about things like that with Wayne? He’s his own man. It’s his private life. But if you have an issue off the pitch, you’re in a situation where you have to ‘park it’.
“Sometimes football can be a release from it. Once the game has started you’re focused on what happens on the pitch, not what’s going on off it. I played some of my best football when I was going through my court case last year.
“Wayne was one of the major reasons why we won against Bulgaria the other night and we’ll be looking for more of the same from him here.”
Capello’s only dilemma is over a partner for Phil Jagielka in central defence, in the absence of Michael Dawson, who was injured against Bulgaria.
Bolton’s Gary Cahill, who won his first cap by replacing the Spurs centre-back on Friday, trained alongside the Everton defender last night. Capello seems not to favour a recall for Matthew Upson or Joleon Lescott, who has played with Jagielka at club level
