Capello angry with Rooney and Cole but happy with the performance

Filed in archive England on September 7, 2008

Apparently Fabio Capello 'vented his anger' at Joe Cole and Wayne Rooney after England's laboured 2-0 win against Azerbaijan in their World Cup qualifier yesterday.

He said that he was pleased with the team and that the performance was a good confidence booster ahead of the far sterner test in Croatia on Wednesday.

Whilst Wayne Rooney is maybe not in the form that we all hope he can rediscover, he remains one of our very few world class players. He is someone who can change a game with a moment of brilliance. In England we have had precious few players who can do that over the years.

Joe Cole is in the form of his life for Chelsea and goalscoring form for England. About Joe Cole, Capello said after the game, "He is very good for himself at the moment and very good for us. Cole at this moment is scoring goals for fun."

Despite this, he hasn't made the starting line-up in Capello's last four games. Instead, we have Stewart Downing on the Left Hand side. I can fully understand the need for a left footed player in that position so that the team can be balanced. However, I thought Downing's flirtation with international football would be put on hold when his former club manager Steve McClaren left the England job.

It seems strange that Capello should make public his disappointment with two players who were undoubtedly amongst our better performers.