England are looking to stop waiting for success in major tournaments this summer, but Fabio Capello insists they need to stop playing in fear and address fatigue issues
Fabio Capello gave England a scathing assessment
Manager Fabio Capello has cast doubt on England’s chances at this summer’s World Cup, claiming they are “playing tired and scared”.
The Italian was the first non-British man to take charge of the Three Lions in 2008. He only managed one tournament, the unforgettable World Cup in 2010. England were among the favorites to win the tournament, but were eliminated in the last 16.
Capello resigned as manager after John Terry was stripped of his captaincy, citing long-standing flaws in England’s game. There is no winter break in the Premier League, but England are one of the few countries to play two consecutive domestic cup competitions.
This increases the workload on players, with Capello insisting that England’s stars arrive at major tournaments exhausted by constant playing time and a much higher workload than their rivals across Europe.
“England, as always, come into the World Cup tired and are playing with fear,” the Italian told the BBC about his country’s chances.
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His horrifying comments centered on England’s style of play, which has faced accusations of being negative. He referred to their attitude in the Euro 2020 final, where Luke Shaw gave his side a 1-0 lead within the first minute. England then adopted an almost passive style of play, luring Italy in before equalizing and winning on penalties.
“I remember against Italy, they stopped playing after 10 or 15 minutes,” Capello said, urging manager Thomas Tuchel to change his approach. “There were long balls and they were playing with fear. That’s the problem for England. It’s exhausting and scary. The manager has to call it off.”
England are competitive in major tournaments but continue to fall short (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
England remain without a win in a major competition since 1966, but have had a few near misses in recent years. They lost in the final of Euro 2024, becoming the first country to lose consecutively in the final of the same tournament.
They headed to the World Cup after an excellent qualifying campaign and were grouped with Croatia, Ghana and Panama. Key player Harry Kane heads into the World Cup coming off the best-scoring season of his career, with Bayern Munich still in the hunt for a treble.
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