In an exclusive interview with Flashscore, football legend Fabio Capello offers his incisive take on some of the most pressing football topics in England. He discusses the immense pressure of managing the England national team—highlighting the challenges Thomas Tuchel faces, and Gareth Southgate’s tenure—and shares his views on Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca’s role at Chelsea. Capello also shared a unique story about David Beckham’s time at Real Madrid.
- On managing England: Capello explains, “Managing England is not a normal job… the fans are waiting for results and for a trophy.” He emphasizes that new managers, like Tuchel, must quickly adapt and forge unity among players to meet the enormous expectations, learning from both his own experiences and Southgate’s approach.
- On Southgate: “Southgate did a fantastic job, he arrived twice to play in the final, but they lost the final because when England’s players arrived at the final, they did not play with the same facilities, and securities that they had played before. I was at the game at Wembley when they played Italy and after 20 minutes they played to waste time because they had the fear of winning the final.”
- Reflecting on Manchester City’s recent struggles, Capello observes, “You can see City now, they try and do the same thing they did before but slowly, it’s not the same.”
- Enzo Maresca: “I support him because he is Italian… he knows England very well, and the Premier League.”
- David Beckham at Real Madrid: “I left him out for 10 days, but David came to training properly, he was always on time and he was the last to leave. I went to see the chairman and said: ‘Look, chairman, from tomorrow I’m putting Beckham on the pitch because he’s a serious person. If you don’t like it, sack me, but that’s it…'”
Read the full interview with Fabio Capello here at Flashscore.
Featured image: “Fabio-Capello” by Paulblank is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
Callum McFadden 