Capello accused of own goal with player rating system

Fabio Capello’s honeymoon with the English media came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when he was hit with a barrage of criticism over his involvement in a website that will rate his own players’ performances during the World Cup.

Newspapers were unanimous in their verdict that the Italian coach had scored an own goal by putting his name to the Capello Index, a website that will use bespoke software to track and rate the performance of players during matches.

The site has been launched in time for the World Cup and England players face the potentially unsettling prospect of their marks being available within hours of matches ending.

The reaction to the initiative ranged from The Guardian’s suggestion that it displayed “questionable timing,” to the Daily Star’s claim that Capello would have to deal with “uproar” from England stars who will be rated immediately after their matches and will inevitably wonder what influence the system will have on the coach’s own thinking.

The Daily Mail meanwhile questioned why Capello, who earns six million pounds a year in his current position, felt the need to make even more money with a misjudged commercial venture.

The row over the index erupted as Capello was putting the final touches to his provisional 30-man squad for the finals in South Africa.

The squad was due to be unveiled later on Tuesday with Capello’s media briefing on his choices expected to be overshadowed to a degree by the issue of the index.

The Italian admitted on Monday that he was wrestling with at least two issues before coming to a final conclusion.

The principal dilemma was understood to revolve around the fitness of Gareth Barry, who is battling to be fit in time for England’s first match in South Africa, against the United States on June 12, after suffering ankle ligament damage in Manchester City’s defeat by Tottenham last week.

Barry has been virtually an ever-present member of England’s starting line-up since Capello took charge of the national squad at the start of 2008.

But, even in the most optimistic scenario, Barry will only be ready to resume full training in the first week of June and Capello has repeatedly insisted he will only include fully fit players in his final 23-man squad, which must be submitted to FIFA on June 1.

Necessity however looks set to result in that requirement being diluted significantly.

In the case of Barry, the back-up option is Owen Hargreaves, whose only appearance for Manchester United this season was a one-minute contribution as a substitute against Sunderland earlier this month.

Prior to that match, Hargreaves had not figured for United since September 2008 as a result of tendinitis which required career-saving surgery to both knees.

Similarly, Capello was expected to include Ledley King in his squad, despite the Tottenham striker being unable to undergo weight-bearing training between matches because of his own chronic knee problems.

Injuries to Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott and concern over the fitness of Rio Ferdinand, who started only a dozen matches for Manchester United in the just-finished Premier League season, prompted Capello to approach Jamie Carragher about coming out of international retirement.

The diplomatic mission to Merseyside was successful and the Liverpool defender now looks set to be included in the squad for South Africa as cover at both centreback and rightback.

In purely playing terms, Capello had to decide whether to recall Joe Cole, whose recent return to form for Chelsea has — according his many admirers and the Capello Index — made a compelling case for him to be taken to South Africa.