Capello ignores his own money induced calculations when picking England’s latest squad

The squad selection for Fabio Capello’s first competitive international since the World Cup brought few surprises, but if his controversial website the Capello Index is accurate, he has picked the wrong players to take their country to the European Championships in 2012.

Blending experience and youth, Capello hopes to blood the next generation of England stars alongside the established players that have dominated the England setup for so long.

However the manager’s controversial website disagrees that the squad selected is the best that England has to offer.

Since its launce in May, it has caused controversy after having the temerity to suggest that England players performed poorly in the World Cup, resulting in Capello distancing himself from his money making side-project and the FA emptying their pram of all its toys.

Designed to establish beyond a doubt who the most effective payers are, the index has only served to help the England manager highlight an inconsistency in his views and line the pockets of his exquisitely cut suits.

“I have sought to use my experience as a manager at both club and international level to identify the attributes and qualities that make players valuable to a team”.

“Working in conjunction with Chicco Merighi, we have created a formula to objectively assess player performance beyond measurements simply based on gut instinct or raw statistical data” parped Capello back in May upon the unveiling of the site.

Having invested his reputation into the website though, Capello’s calculator for the best performing players has highlighted two wildly different squads.

The website has underlined that Birmingham’s Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner are amongst the best performers in the league, along with Blackpool’s Ian Evatt and Luke Varney and West Ham’s perpetually injured Kieron Dyer.

Ageing magician Paul Scholes earns praise from yet another source for his start to the season and Villa’s Luke Young also makes the list, as do current internationals Joe Hart, Mathhew Upson, Darren Bent and Theo Walcott, but there is no place for England stalwarts Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard.

A vocal exponent of picking players based on their form, Capello has clearly chosen to ignore his own calculations.

Perhaps because of the laughability of the index itself, which was seemingly thought up in a paradox world where the statistical style information of Championship Manager rules the game.

Ignoring the vital human element of football and embracing the idea that a players ability can be associated with a defining number, the Capello Index pompously suggests that there is a finite definition of what makes a good footballer.

If he were still playing I’m sure Carlton Palmer would be graced with a generous score too, as he was known to cover every blade of grass on the pitch with his long stride, but the index would probably fail to pick upon the reason for that being was because his first touch was crap.

Seemingly blinded by the money thrown in his direction, Capello has hung his reputation out to dry, as like a virulent case of herpes the index has refused to die, despite the best of attempts of the manager and the all-mouth-and-no-trousers attempts of the FA to shut it down.

Decent performances against Bulgaria and Switzerland will help to ease the ill feeling towards Capello and fans dissatisfaction with the current national setup, but the seeming eternal life of the index seems destined to permanently taint the reputation of the formerly loved England manager who has laid bare his love of the almighty £.

Posted By Dan Mobbs - Wednesday September 1, 2010.
Tags: England, Fabio Capello