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If you're English, chances are that you're not much of a fan of Fabio Capello. Sure he won two-thirds of his games in charge of the English national team, but he was reactionary and played all the wrong players, right? Well, keep an open mind as we go through this and you'll see that Capello maybe isn't as bad as you thought.
Fabio Capello, Manager of Russian national team
Career Record: 348 W - 177 D - 87 L. Good enough for a winning percentage of 56.86%.
Accomplishments: Well, five Serie A titles (Four with Milan and one with Roma), two La Liga titles, four Supercoppa Italianas (three with Milan one with Roma), one Champions League title, and one European Super Cup. I'd say that's a pretty good resume. Also, he managed to get England to qualify for Euro 2012, which counts as an accomplishment when you think about the players he had. On paper, Capello is the most accomplished coach Tottenham Hotspur seem to be looking at. There's not many managers in football that can match his resume, let alone any that would be available to Spurs.
Before he was a manager: Capello was a midfielder who had a career lasting 13 years. Most of his matches came for Juventus and he played exclusively in Italy. In totaly, Don Fabio played 341 matches, scoring 45 goals. He also earned 32 Italy caps, scoring a further 8 goals. As a player he won four Serie A titles in the seventies and a couple of domestic cups. He seems to have been a good box-to-box player, having been strong in the tackle, but also being a good passer and goalscorer.
Tactical Analysis: Quick, go Goggle Fabio Capello tactics. Now, how many of those links were to articles that said something like "Capello criticized for England tactics"? That's pretty much par for the course. Honestly though, Capello has been pretty diverse with his tactics over the years. He probably prefers a 4-1-4-1, but he's also played 4-3-3 with Milan, 3-4-1-2 (or 5-3-2) with Roma, and 4-3-2-1 at Real Madrid. One thing is for certain, Capello prefers hard working teams that are disciplined in defense and counter-attack with a vengeance. He generally prefers a big target striker up front (remember all those Emile Hesky caps?) so it would be interesting to see how he works with Spurs' much smaller strike force. However, Capello has used Aleksandr Kherzakov a lot for Russia and he's not exactly a hulking number nine. In short, Capello, while he has been adventurous at times in his career, is a manager who very much favors defensive and counterattacking football. Not exactly the sort or beautiful passing and moving that many Spurs fans seem to be moaning for.
What else can he bring to the table?: Aside from success at some of the biggest clubs in the world and experience managing in tough situations? Well, he does seem to work well with Franco Baldini. The two have been together pretty much everywhere, so getting the band back together at Spurs makes some sense. Let's be honest here. Capello is a name. He brings what a guy like Sherwood or Hoddle wouldn't. Reputation. Whether that reputation is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. But hiring Capello is a statement of intent for Spurs. It says, we're not happy with fifth or sixth this year, we want a guy that can get us whipped into shape ASAP. That's Capello. Finally, Don Fabio doesn't have a cool beard and isn't super excitable, but he does have those cool glasses and the nickname isn't so bad either.
What's the catch?: Just a World Cup in Brazil and an alleged £8 million salary. Russia have a pretty easy group and stand a good chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the tournament, something which would be great for the country itself and Capello. Also, Russia has expressed an interest in keeping Capello around for the 2018 World Cup, which takes place IN RUSSIA! Capello is highly compensated by Russia too. There's almost no way Spurs can match the cash that he's being paid.
