The Capello Index

The Capello Index (http://www.capelloindex.com) was mooted in public for the first time in the rumblings of discontent that proceeded the World Cup. It was coupled with past England mistakes like World Cup diaries and was seen as simply a PR blunder.

It was deemed that this Index during the World Cup would have a negative role in an England World Cup bid. It was seen as a distraction in the search of glory. Now it is manna from Heaven to even the most casual of football observers.

The Capello Index lays bare the thinking of a coach so rigid in his ways and his thinking of not just players but indeed the game itself. The main accusation - that he deems a ratings system relative in an art-form that is subject to the elements, human emotions, mistakes and blatant cheating.

The Capello Index is an expression of a man who has surrendered his feel for the game to that of a Playstation match-up. There is nothing left if football has come to this.

A quick look at the list will show that the twin destroyers of Marc Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong are ranked as 14th and 21st respectively in the list of top 2010 World Cup performers.

These players quite some way ahead of the glorious performances of Mesut Ozil who lit up the tournament with his clever passing and ways to break down the stubborn defences. Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta both fall short of Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose, despite controlling a game of football in the semi-final that highlighted the efficiency of Tiki-Taka football which, if not invented by these two footballers, will forever be entwined in their legacy and that of The World Cup 2010.

Capello's list instead points towards the goalscorers. The end result in a manner of speaking. It is this thought process that connects the footballing brain to the early 1990s and "percentages". Even those who quoted the game in terms of "percentages" appear to have moved on - haunted by their failures. Capello was one of the few who achieved unbridled success with this thinking.
That will always be true as Capello's methods will always be always.

The problem with this thinking is that the end result of the tournament was not about the results of the individual. It was a not about a Wayne Rooney or a Ronaldo or even a David Villa. It was about a brand of football. So delicate and intricate that the computers would be mesmorised. Back and forward like a pendulum. A nonsense to the mind and to the football accountant.

When boxers meet, it would be reasonable in 2010, that a Floyd Mayweather Jnr would always beat a Frank Bruno. It will be ever so that a Spain will beat a Capello-led England.
There are, after all, simply 'lies, damn lies and statistics'.