Deadline for the Don

Who became Fabio Capello for the Russian national team and how to live with him

And the Russian national team appeared as a team about which there was nothing to say, and its wise coach, alas, turned out to be the most timid and not creative of almost all of his colleagues. He did not make a single decisive move that would allow him to somehow change the situation. In every match of the group stage, he did not want to take risks until the last, and the team played as if they were afraid of themselves more than the opponent

Fabio Capello, the 68-year-old maestro, the highest paid coach of all who participated in the last World Cup, has not left the Russian national team and is going to finalize his contract until the end, that is, until 2018 inclusive. At a recent press conference, he said he would work as long as he was trusted. In this case, the Ministry of Sports and the Russian Football Union. No one asked about a wider reference group, which is a pity. However, Don Fabio would hardly have added anything to the answer. He simply took out the rest of the football and near-football Russia, which, in fact, said goodbye to him after the Brazilian rental.

That is, Capello will work honestly and seriously (otherwise he cannot) work, being long retired in the mass consciousness. I don't know what is better and what is worse - to stay on duty, waking up every morning with the feeling that you are being tolerated solely due to special circumstances, or to leave with your head held high.

Fabio Capello, for all his eventful and victorious coaching life, has never found himself in such a situation. He was fired for nothing (more precisely, for unspectacular football), as was the case with the champion Real Madrid, he himself left, it would seem, because of a trifle, as happened with the England team, but he still does not know what it is to be a dead wolf . The deputies' challenge to the carpet, of course, is nonsense and vulgarity, what does the deputies have to do with it, who are ready to put their five kopecks into anything? And the reference group of employers numbering a few people also has nothing to do with it. And even a 9-million contract is also not of decisive importance, although in the light of recent events, the figure looks too defiant even for our country that does not know how to hold back.

There is no faith that he can regain trust. Capello is not to blame for everything, but no one canceled the responsibility of the head coach for the result. If there is no result, then at least there should be something to remember. But by and large, there is nothing to remember about the game of the Russian team in Brazil.

I'm a little sorry for Fabio Capello. We, however, can also be pitied.

...Capello's predecessors - Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat - didn't care too much about visiting matches of the Russian championship. There can be no complaints about the Italian here - he did not declare the need to immerse himself in the realities of Russian football, he just did it. Two years was quite enough to draw conclusions that are generally not subject to public disclosure.

It was much easier for colleagues. Hiddink was lucky with the generation, and also with the Croatian springboard, without which we would not have shared the unexpected bronze joy at Euro 2008. The lawyer was lucky with for the time being a solid Zenit foundation, which he exploited to the last. Capello was not lucky with anything - he accepted the position in a situation of the most severe lack of fish, and he could only rely on himself.

He was called as a system wizard, capable of creating something out of nothing. Yes, there is a football shortage in Russia, but now we have one of the best coaches in the world - this was firstly announced by employers, not without pride, and later became a mantra for the entire football community, starting with the Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko and ending with an ordinary fan .

Yes, everyone was glad to believe in the correctness of the choice when the first successes came. Capello got down to work thoroughly, there was a feeling that he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve. I didn’t ride on old luggage, boldly expanded the circle of candidates, built a low-key, but really reliable game. And it was clear that the players understand what the coach wants: the renewed team seemed to straighten its shoulders. There were fewer star names, more confidence, the game acquired not at all episodic meaningfulness and solidity.

In the long distance of the qualifying tournament, Don Fabio did not complain that Russian football was slow, and that he had no one to choose from. Perhaps, notes of discontent began to appear only closer to the finish line, but the first place in the group and, accordingly, direct access to the final part of the World Cup 12 years later were obtained quite confidently and without outside help. The Italian passed the first round not brilliantly, but very competently - which, in fact, was expected from him.

The fact that the holiday is intermediate, and the undoubted success should not be overestimated, we did not immediately understand. But Fabio himself, it seems, internally agreed that reaching the final part is the ceiling of his national team. This was partly true - in order to reach a new level, new forces and new ideas were required. It's like with the team, the kings coming out of the lower division to the highest: the game is there, the squad is brought in, but the first guys in the village will only have to fight for survival.

The reserve, however, was not visible - at least in the view of Capello. He stopped in front of a barrier that objectively seemed insurmountable. Hiddink before Euro 2008 had a choice of a dozen strikers, Capello had three, and even those were not Arshavins and Pavlyuchenko of the then sample. Hiddink's role as a playmaker could be played by any midfielder, Capello had one Shirokov for everything. The center of defense has not grown younger, the main goalkeeper has lost confidence. And so on. This team clearly marked the limit beyond which the cautious Fabio may have tried to look, but did not see anything ahead. And then there was Brazil. And I had to promise something - at least a way out of the weakest group in terms of composition. He promised, although he subsequently retracted his words, explaining, not without irritation, that he was misunderstood - he said something like “we hope for a way out.”

Fabio Capello chose a path that did not involve taking off, but which would be enough to not fall too painfully. With the help of a whole brigade of compatriots, he tried to lay a powerful physical base, and he did it. But he did not decide and did not work with his players on how he would surprise his opponents - based on the fact that his team would be rescued by the staged game, tough discipline, maximum concentration in defense and good luck in attack. In the absence of the injured Roman Shirokov, the attacking variability was indeed minimized, and he did not come up with anything else. And there was too little time left.

And the Russian national team appeared as a team about which there was nothing to say, and its wise coach, alas, turned out to be the most timid and not creative of almost all of his colleagues. He did not make a single decisive move that would allow him to somehow change the situation. In every match of the group stage, he did not want to take risks until the last, and the team played as if they were more afraid of themselves than of the opponent. Having risked, he might have lost with a bang, but at least the bang was audible.

He probably is - a realist to the marrow of his bones. But the World Cup showed us teams that soared above reality, having much less resources for this. I believe that any serious domestic coach would have performed in Brazil, at least not worse.

Another thing is that far from any domestic or foreign coach would be able to get into the final part of the World Cup with such an average team.

And here we are approaching the essence of gloomy reflections on who Fabio Capello has become for the Russian team and how to live with him. This is much more serious than the stumbling block in the form of three tens of millions of euros, allegedly required as compensation in the event of a termination of the contract.

... The extension of the contract to the World Cup, and immediately for four years, then seemed completely absurd, but now it seems doubly absurd. The RFU and the Ministry of Sports took their lead and led themselves into a trap, and it is convenient for Fabio to think that they are interested in him sincerely and for a long time, regardless of the result.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian world championship only confirmed that the outstanding club coach Fabio Capello at the national team level is a qualified specialist within the first division, capable of providing the necessary result in a limited area. So it was with the England team, where Capello had an immeasurably greater choice, it happened with the Russian team, collected from the pine forest.

Of course, if we consider that football Russia, not spoiled by success and suffering from all sorts of complexes, is enough to conquer low heights, then Fabio Capello must certainly be left and not pester a far from young man with dreams of an unrealizable one. The national team got into the final part - glory to the coach and a monument during his lifetime, the rest is a bonus for the fans, not binding to anything. It is no coincidence that Capello at the same press conference mentioned Euro 2016, which still needs to be entered. And the home World Cup is a completely different story, which, most likely, is not written by Don Fabio. Although for a successful performance at the home world championship, Vitaly Mutko has already promised to bury Capello "next to Dostoevsky."

All the on-duty wishes that rely on a critical impulse have been expressed, and we have gone through this more than once with our predecessors: the construction of a federal center for national teams, the development of regions, the attention of young people, the strengthening of the headquarters by Russian specialists (of course, in the role of translators), supervision of the entire vertical of national teams. Fabio Capello does not have to worry about the obligatory fulfillment of one or another item. Yes, he himself knows the difference between wishes and an item written into the contract.

It remains to live until the 16th year. Or until the 15th - as it goes.