The day Fabio Capello came to Juventus, I read it on the old Soccerage site- I made a joke to my friends about it saying that our I.T. teacher joined Juventus- as he was the spitting image of him.
One season with a Scudetto later, who is laughing now?
In the 2003/2004 season, Juventus were third in the league and had their worst defensive record in over 40 years. Juventus were kicked out by Deportivo in the first phase of the Champions league knockouts after reaching the final the year previous. To put it simply, things were a shambles. Juventus were whipped back and forth, with embarrassing results including the famous 4-0 loss to As Roma at the Olimpico, both matches against Inter on which Juventus conceded 6 goals overall and lost both matches in the process, and then the match up with Milan which Juventus lost 3-1.
Someone had to take on the Job of breathing life back into the Old Lady- I could not think of anyone more fitting to the task, then Fabio Capello.
His rivals for the Job are hardly of his calibre- Deschamps recently played with Juventus and had a successful run with Monaco in the Champions League, in what can only be known as the ’anomaly season’ in which two massive underdogs reached the final. Whilst it was no doubt impressive, it is foolish to hire a coach based on one season’s performances. Prandelli is different. His experience and understanding with young players gave hope to the fans that they could perhaps see a more youthful Juventus, but Juventus has never been a team built with young players, which rendered the main strength of this coach useless, and his relegation was always a black mark on his CV, not to mention his general lack of trophies.
Capello eventually took the job, and has exceeded my expectations immensely for this season. I think he has done brilliantly, but some do not think so. So I will now dispell the Capello myths that people have been telling:
1) Capello was a traitor to As Roma.
I never understood this one; if anything he should be praised in Rome as he brought Rome one third of their overall sucess in Italy by adding a precious third to their trophy cabinet. Capello no doubt played a big hand in developing Cassano, and to some extent finding the perfect place for Totti to play in.
Capello has been slammed as a traitor because he left so suddenly. Are Roma fans aware his wage bills had not been paid for six months? Some fans might moan: Oh but he is so rich anyway- So? Can any of you honestly say YOU would stay with your company at work if you were not getting paid for six months? Football is essentially a buisness, and being a coach is a tough job. Roma were fully aware of the risk they ran by not paying Capello wage’s, so they have only themselves to blame for his departure. Infact, Roma fans should be thankful- they got a freebie for 6 months, how many clubs can say they got a coach of Capello’s class to coach a side for 6 months free even bringing them their historic 4-0 victory over much hated Juventus?
Capello is a professional. The contact from Juventus was sudden, (it must of been, one can categorically eliminate contact over those six months if you ask yourself the question: how could Capello know if he was suddenly going to get paid in those six months, thus blocking a move to any other club? He could not of).
So Capello moved clubs suddenly too. The Juventus board needed a striker to organise things for the new season and outline transfer objectives among other things, so the earlier a coach is found the better for the club. So Capello left the club, for his own selfish agenda- yes, but when the club has not been paying you for half a year, how charitable are you going to feel?
Myth Dispelled.
2) Capello plays defensive football
.. And people who say that are just plain wrong. Infact, Juventus have been the side this season in serie A which has scored the most goals- even more then so called attacking Inter- and yet at the same time, conceded the least- which highly resembles ’offensive Roma’ last season, which they did exactly that, but people claim that they were an offensive team. So explain to me: Why are Inter offensive? Is it because they have a poor backline and games with them tend to have higher score lines?
The Juventus Defence record is probably the factor unto which people decide Juventus are a defensive team- but how can one call a club who scores more then anyone else in the league defensive? If anything, they are the most Defensive and Offensive- making them a balanced team.
Myth Dispelled.
3) It was Capello’s fault we were knocked out to Liverpool
When Capello deployed a 4-4-2 against Liverpool on the first leg at Anfield, Juventus were 2-0 down with 20 minutes on the clock. Yes, that was a tactical error- he was using a formula that had been successful so far, and he obviously saw that needed change in the second leg. Cannavaro was fortunate enough to have a header spilled by the keeper, which gave Juventus a lifeline and making them need only one goal in the next leg.
Capello had 3 choices- deploy his standard 4-4-2 as in Anfield which had no positive results- play a 4-3-3 like against Madrid, but be subject to a counter attack much easier- or play a new experimental tactic against Liverpool.
Capello’s tactic was out there, but it was obvious the 4-4-2 was not working and a 4-4-3 would not do much better. During the course of the match, I remember 3 clear chances- Cannavaro’s header which hit the post, Zlatan’s miss from Zambrotta’s bouncing cross, and Zlatan’s earlier miss from a Thuram chip. The tactic nullified Liverpool’s counter attack, as I remember the only chances they had came from Zebina mistake. A goal in Turin against Juventus, that would have been curtains.
Can anyone blame Capello for looking for one goal yet still staying on the back pedal? If Cannavaro had jumped 2 inches more to the right, Juventus would of been at least in the Semis. I call this an unfortunate circumstance- as Capello set out for a 0-1- in which he got 50% right, and perhaps if one takes into consideration how close that header was, it is more like 50% and a matter of inches, but such is football.
Should Capello be blamed? No. He had the correct idea, but Liverpool defended well, and Juventus were unlucky with their chances.
Myth Dispelled
4) Capello hates Del Piero
Possibly one of the worst myths of them all. Sigmund Freud believed that pleasure is a consequence of the release of something bad- for example, the satisfaction gained after eating- losing the hunger. He also believed that the mind has to learn to adapt in order to gain certain things- for example a baby screaming for a lollipop will not get it, but child eventually learns a more difficult a way to get the lollipop than screaming, but a way that works.
The Del Piero - Capello case can be compared to that. Del Piero has had the for granted pleasure of first team football his whole life at the Delle Alpi- whenever he is on form or off, it would not matter as Lippi consistently played him in front of any other striker when possible. Capello came in and decided to change the rules, and started to bench Del Piero, almost every game. However, what people seem to forget is that when Del Piero played well he stayed on- thus when Del Piero now plays well, he stays on the pitch and avoids the dissatisfaction of not playing. Del Piero now must play well- like all the other forwards in Juventus- to earn himself a match without substitution.
Did it pay off? Did Del Piero learn to earn his playing time by playing well now? A straight yes would be the answer. A great performance versus Milan has been the fruit of Del Piero’s determination not to be substituted anymore- thus he avoids the dissatisfaction, and keeps his place on the pitch. He has earned his Lollipop of playing by improving his game, which could never have been acheived by means of keeping Del Piero on the pitch consistently.
Myth Dispelled.
Capello has finally found a brilliant Camorenesi, who used to be the frustration vent for the Juventini with several calls to be sold. Zlatan Ibrahimovic exceeded everyone’s expectations under Capello- Cannavaro found his vigour again under Capello, and Del Piero started playing well for the first time in a while under Capello.
So I say: Long live the Don.
Some good points....forza Capello!
One season with a Scudetto later, who is laughing now?
In the 2003/2004 season, Juventus were third in the league and had their worst defensive record in over 40 years. Juventus were kicked out by Deportivo in the first phase of the Champions league knockouts after reaching the final the year previous. To put it simply, things were a shambles. Juventus were whipped back and forth, with embarrassing results including the famous 4-0 loss to As Roma at the Olimpico, both matches against Inter on which Juventus conceded 6 goals overall and lost both matches in the process, and then the match up with Milan which Juventus lost 3-1.
Someone had to take on the Job of breathing life back into the Old Lady- I could not think of anyone more fitting to the task, then Fabio Capello.
His rivals for the Job are hardly of his calibre- Deschamps recently played with Juventus and had a successful run with Monaco in the Champions League, in what can only be known as the ’anomaly season’ in which two massive underdogs reached the final. Whilst it was no doubt impressive, it is foolish to hire a coach based on one season’s performances. Prandelli is different. His experience and understanding with young players gave hope to the fans that they could perhaps see a more youthful Juventus, but Juventus has never been a team built with young players, which rendered the main strength of this coach useless, and his relegation was always a black mark on his CV, not to mention his general lack of trophies.
Capello eventually took the job, and has exceeded my expectations immensely for this season. I think he has done brilliantly, but some do not think so. So I will now dispell the Capello myths that people have been telling:
1) Capello was a traitor to As Roma.
I never understood this one; if anything he should be praised in Rome as he brought Rome one third of their overall sucess in Italy by adding a precious third to their trophy cabinet. Capello no doubt played a big hand in developing Cassano, and to some extent finding the perfect place for Totti to play in.
Capello has been slammed as a traitor because he left so suddenly. Are Roma fans aware his wage bills had not been paid for six months? Some fans might moan: Oh but he is so rich anyway- So? Can any of you honestly say YOU would stay with your company at work if you were not getting paid for six months? Football is essentially a buisness, and being a coach is a tough job. Roma were fully aware of the risk they ran by not paying Capello wage’s, so they have only themselves to blame for his departure. Infact, Roma fans should be thankful- they got a freebie for 6 months, how many clubs can say they got a coach of Capello’s class to coach a side for 6 months free even bringing them their historic 4-0 victory over much hated Juventus?
Capello is a professional. The contact from Juventus was sudden, (it must of been, one can categorically eliminate contact over those six months if you ask yourself the question: how could Capello know if he was suddenly going to get paid in those six months, thus blocking a move to any other club? He could not of).
So Capello moved clubs suddenly too. The Juventus board needed a striker to organise things for the new season and outline transfer objectives among other things, so the earlier a coach is found the better for the club. So Capello left the club, for his own selfish agenda- yes, but when the club has not been paying you for half a year, how charitable are you going to feel?
Myth Dispelled.
2) Capello plays defensive football
.. And people who say that are just plain wrong. Infact, Juventus have been the side this season in serie A which has scored the most goals- even more then so called attacking Inter- and yet at the same time, conceded the least- which highly resembles ’offensive Roma’ last season, which they did exactly that, but people claim that they were an offensive team. So explain to me: Why are Inter offensive? Is it because they have a poor backline and games with them tend to have higher score lines?
The Juventus Defence record is probably the factor unto which people decide Juventus are a defensive team- but how can one call a club who scores more then anyone else in the league defensive? If anything, they are the most Defensive and Offensive- making them a balanced team.
Myth Dispelled.
3) It was Capello’s fault we were knocked out to Liverpool
When Capello deployed a 4-4-2 against Liverpool on the first leg at Anfield, Juventus were 2-0 down with 20 minutes on the clock. Yes, that was a tactical error- he was using a formula that had been successful so far, and he obviously saw that needed change in the second leg. Cannavaro was fortunate enough to have a header spilled by the keeper, which gave Juventus a lifeline and making them need only one goal in the next leg.
Capello had 3 choices- deploy his standard 4-4-2 as in Anfield which had no positive results- play a 4-3-3 like against Madrid, but be subject to a counter attack much easier- or play a new experimental tactic against Liverpool.
Capello’s tactic was out there, but it was obvious the 4-4-2 was not working and a 4-4-3 would not do much better. During the course of the match, I remember 3 clear chances- Cannavaro’s header which hit the post, Zlatan’s miss from Zambrotta’s bouncing cross, and Zlatan’s earlier miss from a Thuram chip. The tactic nullified Liverpool’s counter attack, as I remember the only chances they had came from Zebina mistake. A goal in Turin against Juventus, that would have been curtains.
Can anyone blame Capello for looking for one goal yet still staying on the back pedal? If Cannavaro had jumped 2 inches more to the right, Juventus would of been at least in the Semis. I call this an unfortunate circumstance- as Capello set out for a 0-1- in which he got 50% right, and perhaps if one takes into consideration how close that header was, it is more like 50% and a matter of inches, but such is football.
Should Capello be blamed? No. He had the correct idea, but Liverpool defended well, and Juventus were unlucky with their chances.
Myth Dispelled
4) Capello hates Del Piero
Possibly one of the worst myths of them all. Sigmund Freud believed that pleasure is a consequence of the release of something bad- for example, the satisfaction gained after eating- losing the hunger. He also believed that the mind has to learn to adapt in order to gain certain things- for example a baby screaming for a lollipop will not get it, but child eventually learns a more difficult a way to get the lollipop than screaming, but a way that works.
The Del Piero - Capello case can be compared to that. Del Piero has had the for granted pleasure of first team football his whole life at the Delle Alpi- whenever he is on form or off, it would not matter as Lippi consistently played him in front of any other striker when possible. Capello came in and decided to change the rules, and started to bench Del Piero, almost every game. However, what people seem to forget is that when Del Piero played well he stayed on- thus when Del Piero now plays well, he stays on the pitch and avoids the dissatisfaction of not playing. Del Piero now must play well- like all the other forwards in Juventus- to earn himself a match without substitution.
Did it pay off? Did Del Piero learn to earn his playing time by playing well now? A straight yes would be the answer. A great performance versus Milan has been the fruit of Del Piero’s determination not to be substituted anymore- thus he avoids the dissatisfaction, and keeps his place on the pitch. He has earned his Lollipop of playing by improving his game, which could never have been acheived by means of keeping Del Piero on the pitch consistently.
Myth Dispelled.
Capello has finally found a brilliant Camorenesi, who used to be the frustration vent for the Juventini with several calls to be sold. Zlatan Ibrahimovic exceeded everyone’s expectations under Capello- Cannavaro found his vigour again under Capello, and Del Piero started playing well for the first time in a while under Capello.
So I say: Long live the Don.
Some good points....forza Capello!
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