Martin Lipton's England v Bulgaria preview: No place for hiding, no room for excuses

By Martin Lipton in Mirror Football Blog

Published 11:30 03/09/10

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No place for hiding, no room for excuses.

At Wembley this evening, Fabio Capello and his team will be in the line of fire, knowing they have to start the long road back towards redemption.

It will not be easy and the scars left by the debacles that all came together in Bloemfontein will take months, perhaps years, to heal.

Indeed, even back to back wins over Bulgaria and then Switzerland on Tuesday will only buy the Italian a bit more time.

Yet if Capello and his players are to regain the faith and trust of the nation, this is where it has to begin.

When the Euro 2012 group draw was made in Warsaw in February, 48 hours after Capello had summoned John Terry to his office at Wembley, to strip him of the armband, nobody could have foreseen the tide of events that will ensure the Italian is under so much scrutiny this evening.

England had waltzed through World Cup qualifying, had been the beneficiaries of what looked like the perfect draw for South Africa, with Capello dominant, determined, the master of all he could survey.

No wonder England's main group rivals looked at their Group G prospects with negativity.

Bulgaria coach Stanimir Stoilov stated: "When you look at the group it is clear that there is one strong favourite, England.

"The rest of us all have ambitions to go for second place and to qualify that way. Every other team including us has the chance to be second."

Likewise, Swiss boss Ottmar Hitzfeld insisted: "England are the clear favourites. It is a hard group but we have to hope this team is capable of qualifying."

In many ways, little has changed. England still have Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole at left-back, the promise of Theo Walcott, the experience of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Frank Lampard - although all three are absent this evening.

If they play to anything like their potential, they should qualify at a canter. No problems. No hassle. Just like last time under Capello.

And yet, as we all know, in other ways the situation has changed, perhaps irrevocably.

Where Capello could do no wrong for 18 months, ever since the Terry imbroglio broke it has seemed he can do no right.

We had the madness of the Capello Index, the panic calls to Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher, selecting injury-prone Ledley King and a patently unfit Gareth Barry, the moans and groans emerging from the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex, the second Terry affair, the uncertainty over his first choice goalkeeper culminating in the late dropping of Robert Green, all coming to a head against Germany.

Even since the World Cup, Capello's previous sure-footedness has all but disappeared. Failing to make even a fleeting appearance at the European under-19 Championships was a PR own goal and the self-inflicted row over Davod Beckham's England future - or lack of one - last month was entirely needless.   

Capello's lament yesterday over his reduced status was insightful.   

"You create the god and you create the monster," said the Italian. "I remember what was written about me before this period. I live the same when you write well of me as I do when you write badly of me. This is my job and I have to live with the pressure."

In truth, Capello was never a God and is not a monster now.

But the heat is on him to show he is still as sharp as a tack, still has his mind and heart on the job, still wants to put things right - and is not merely hanging on for the eventual multi-million pound pay-off when he is sacked.

Everything he does this evening will be studied intently for those reasons.

Capello's decision to stay in his seat against Hungary last month, rather than venturing out for the Vesuvial explosions of dismay that we had come to expect, was variously seen as a sign of his lack of interest or evidence that he wanted to watch and learn in a friendly, depending on your point of view.

Therein lies the problem. No matter what happens now, Capello will always be judged against the backdrop of the summer.

If England can get the ball down and play with the pace and panache that is the hallmark of most of these players when wearing their club shirts, there can only be one result.

But Rooney has not scored in 10 England games since netting the final goal against Croatia a year ago - it seems like a lifetime - while in the nine games he has started in the same team as  Jermain Defoe they have each scored just one goal, the Spurs striker's winner against Slovenia and the Unitede man's consolation effort in Denmark five years ago, after Defoe had been replaced.

It will be a nervous night for many. It should be for Capello, at least before the start. This is where we begin to see whether he truly cares.

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