A fundamental distinguishing factor between the England regimes of Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, we trust, is that under Capello the players will do precisely as they are told: all the players, that is, not just debutants and honest toilers such as Owen Hargreaves and (for all his gifts) Wayne Rooney. It will have to be different this time. Part of the reason Eriksson was perceived as a mild under-achiever was that he seemed to place an almost implicit reliance in his most talented performers, among them Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and, of course, David Beckham, each of whom ended up missing vital penalties. Remember the dressing-room poll on the midfield's shape at Euro 2004 in Portugal? Capello, we are assured, will run a one-party state.
Another reason things will have to change is that, for the price English football is paying, no less than a revolution is required. On Tuesday, the FA will unveil a four-year grassroots programme costing £200 million. It appears impressive but in the next four years, should all go reasonably well for Capello and his assistants, they will be paid, before bonuses, about £34 million. Were England to be paying something closer to the true rate for the job - say the £750,000 a year Capello's compatriot Marcello Lippi got for building a world-champion team - the grassroots budget could therefore be increased by nearly 15 per cent.
So England will be playing for higher stakes than perhaps they acknowledge when the World Cup qualifiers begin next season. Especially those neatly corralled by BBC Radio's Mark Clemmit last week as ''what is left of the golden generation". For Beckham, in the unlikely event that he should stagger to South Africa, and probably Lampard, it would be the final curtain. Even Gerrard will be 30 in the English summer of 2010. But the reality, as our thoughts gradually turn to the friendly against France in Paris on Wednesday week, is that England's immediate future revolves around the development of a deadly partnership between Capello's two most potent attackers, Gerrard and Rooney.
Eriksson should have done it in Germany in 2006 when Michael Owen dropped out through injury - Rooney, just back from his foot injury, needed help at the front and Gerrard had already scored two superb goals - but instead the team continued along familiar lines until the buffers were reached and later it transpired that Gerrard had made it clear he wanted to stay in midfield.
Now Rafa Benitez at Liverpool has come to the same conclusion: he has been using Gerrard as a semi-striker behind Fernando Torres and, although the captain initially voiced his customary misgivings, he has so enjoyed playing with Torres as to entertain second thoughts. Maybe sometimes the manager knows best. According to Terry Venables in his Sun column yesterday, Gerrard "has finally found his best position". He also confrrmed that he and Steve McClaren, when the latter was England manager, had tried in vain to convince the player of this.
Although I have noted Gerrard's precious tendencies before, the truth is that he has enough of a range of attributes - passing, tackling, shooting ability and pace - to play anywhere. Furthermore, when he does a job for a manager, as he did in snuffing out Kaka for McClaren when Brazil came to Wembley last summer, he can do it to perfection.
The job he can do best for England is link with Rooney, who, though not as quick as Torres, has more strength and an even better touch. If Capello has the sense to tell him, Gerrard would be a fool to turn up his nose again.
www.telegraph.co.uk/barclay
Another reason things will have to change is that, for the price English football is paying, no less than a revolution is required. On Tuesday, the FA will unveil a four-year grassroots programme costing £200 million. It appears impressive but in the next four years, should all go reasonably well for Capello and his assistants, they will be paid, before bonuses, about £34 million. Were England to be paying something closer to the true rate for the job - say the £750,000 a year Capello's compatriot Marcello Lippi got for building a world-champion team - the grassroots budget could therefore be increased by nearly 15 per cent.
So England will be playing for higher stakes than perhaps they acknowledge when the World Cup qualifiers begin next season. Especially those neatly corralled by BBC Radio's Mark Clemmit last week as ''what is left of the golden generation". For Beckham, in the unlikely event that he should stagger to South Africa, and probably Lampard, it would be the final curtain. Even Gerrard will be 30 in the English summer of 2010. But the reality, as our thoughts gradually turn to the friendly against France in Paris on Wednesday week, is that England's immediate future revolves around the development of a deadly partnership between Capello's two most potent attackers, Gerrard and Rooney.
Eriksson should have done it in Germany in 2006 when Michael Owen dropped out through injury - Rooney, just back from his foot injury, needed help at the front and Gerrard had already scored two superb goals - but instead the team continued along familiar lines until the buffers were reached and later it transpired that Gerrard had made it clear he wanted to stay in midfield.
Now Rafa Benitez at Liverpool has come to the same conclusion: he has been using Gerrard as a semi-striker behind Fernando Torres and, although the captain initially voiced his customary misgivings, he has so enjoyed playing with Torres as to entertain second thoughts. Maybe sometimes the manager knows best. According to Terry Venables in his Sun column yesterday, Gerrard "has finally found his best position". He also confrrmed that he and Steve McClaren, when the latter was England manager, had tried in vain to convince the player of this.
Although I have noted Gerrard's precious tendencies before, the truth is that he has enough of a range of attributes - passing, tackling, shooting ability and pace - to play anywhere. Furthermore, when he does a job for a manager, as he did in snuffing out Kaka for McClaren when Brazil came to Wembley last summer, he can do it to perfection.
The job he can do best for England is link with Rooney, who, though not as quick as Torres, has more strength and an even better touch. If Capello has the sense to tell him, Gerrard would be a fool to turn up his nose again.
www.telegraph.co.uk/barclay
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