Capello is keeping his England job... but will Lampard, JT and Rio lose theirs?

By Steve Anglesey in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 11:27 08/09/10

• 

The debate over Fabio Capello's future ended last night.

Now it is about where the Italian will take his England side.

With Wayne Rooney dismissing any thoughts of what awaited him back in Manchester from his mind to take the spotlight for all the right reasons, Capello's side were everything in Switzerland they were not at the World Cup.

Mature, confident, lively, penetrative, it was a million miles removed from the misery of Bloemfontein, a massive step towards the 2012 European Championships.

Capello's faith in Rooney in the wake of his latest sordid escapades could not have been rewarded more completely.

In the first half in particular, especially after arriving perfectly to meet Glen Johnson's pull-back and sweep home the goal that ended his 12-month England scoring drought, Rooney was simply irrepressible.

The Swiss did not know how to handle him, their fixation leaving holes elsewhere that England were able to exploit, as James Milner and early arrival Adam Johnson, both helped in no small measure by the full-backs supporting them, destroyed the home side out wide, while Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry took an iron grip on the midfield battleground.

Such was England's command that it was almost shocking they were not home and hosed long before Stephan Lichtsteiner's red card reduced the Swiss to 10 men and the ultimate victory margin understated the extent of their superiority.

Yet the assured finishes by Johnson and Darren Bent - finally looking like the man who has scored bucketloads for Sunderland - were in keeping with that overall display.

And with the toughest Group G task conquered with such a minimum of fuss, what matters now is how Capello seeks to move forward with his players.

If performances are rewarded, then that must mean no more sinecures, no guaranteed way back for John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.

At the back, certainly, Phil Jagielka showed again why Capello has described him as the "driver" of the defence, suggesting that one of the big two may have to get used to watching England kick-off from the bench.

The balance of the midfield quartet, too, augured less than well for Lampard, although Capello will have to make one change for next month's Wembley clash with Montenegro, with Milner ruled out after a second successive yellow card.

If only Owen Hargreaves - the only natural midfield holder in the England senior ranks - was fit to replace Barry you do sense there would be a midfield to take on the very best, rather than simply out-manoeuvre the second tier sides.

That, sadly, seems destined never to be the case but in Hargreaves' continued absence, Barry's less refined approach to the job is still more than good enough to help steer England to Poland and Ukraine.

It is, of course, once England get to the Finals that they - and, more importantly, Capello - will be properly tested and scrutinised.

Indeed, the victory in Basel means the near 21 months or so will now be little more than a phony war, the occasional skirmishes but with the end result pre-ordained, before the real business suddenly comes in June 2012.

That Capello will - health or the truly unexpected permitting - lead England all the way to those Finals is no longer in doubt.

Any questions over his hold on the job have been answered emphatically in the space of five days, with the response of the players to his tactical demands evidence that they are still prepared to listen and learn from him, despite what happened in the summer.

What matters now, though, is how Capello decides to move forward, to ensure that, by the time England arrive in the heart of the former Eastern Europe they have developed, matured, and can be genuinely competitive, rather than face inevitable elimination at the hands of the first decent side they meet in knock-out.

Gradually introducing new faces is part of that. Johnson and Joe Hart - those uncharacteristic fumbles notwithstanding - have already made their move into the first team frame, as has Jagielka, and while seven of those who started last night were in the side humbled by Germany it looked like a very different England.

Building on that is the key and Capello and the FA know there will be no fanfares or triumphalism unless or until there is significant achievement in 2012.

The whole country was too burned by the World Cup to get carried away by a Tuesday night in Basel in September, even if the display was as good as any yet produced under Capello.

Capello, though, did look like a man enjoying his job again and his handling of Rooney over the past few days was an object lesson. The epitaphs can go on hold. The future is there to be written first.

Fancy winning £3,000 for FREE this month? Play Mirror Football Streak for your chance to win cash prizes! Start predicting now!