Blatter's Banter

England's new coach, the sixty-one year old Fabio Cappello, arrived for his first day at work today and he has already miffed the president of the world's governing body. Sepp Blatter went on record today and voiced concern that England had picked its second international gaffer in the last five years. Blatter compares England to the other great footballing nations of Germany and Brazil. These countries all have homegrown managers. Blatter blames the influx of foreign players to the English and the lack of training for England's up and comings on their current slump in the international game.

There are several things wrong with Blatter's argument. Not since 1962 when England hosted the World Cup, have they even come close to winning under an English manager. Two of the world cups, the team failed to qualify completely. When England failed to qualify for Euro 08, the FA had had too much from McClearan. You can not blame the FA for going outside of England to look for someone. There is no clear gaffer talent within the country. The only person that I can think of would be to bring Sir Alex on board but he won't double dip with Man U.

The other claim that English football focuses too much on international talent. I don't know if Blatter has looked at the number of clubs and teams on a global scale. According to the most recent information that I have on hand, from The Thinking Fans Guide To The World Cup, England has 42,000 clubs with more than 1.5 million registered players. With the size of England's population, roughly 49 M, that's more than 30 players per thousand.England has clubs and they have players. They have academies by the boat load. Second teams. Third teams. Hell, if Arsenal could expand their academy, you would have a first rate English team every year.

You can not argue that the teams are not being managed and cultivated the right way. They would not be capped for the national team if the players did not show some sense of talent. You could argue that with the proper coaching, that the younger players that will be populating the team as Becks and Terry finally move off to the retirement pitch, England regain their namesake as the country that started it all.

Cappello is the man to do this. He has coached mainly in Italy, with a brief stint at Real Madrid. Cappello has won the domestic title for most of the years that he has managed these big squads so, it's fair to say, that he knows what he is doing and will not possibly do any worse that McClearen did while he was at the helm. The earliest friendly and test for Fabio comes up soon against Switzerland and it will be interesting to see if he stays around for the World Cup qualifiers that begin in October of this year.