• Home
• /
• Football

Capello urges Beckham to consider management

England coach Fabio Capello has urged former captain David Beckham to consider a career in management to utilize his vast footballing experience.

The Los Angeles midfielder, who has played for Real Madrid, AC Milan and Manchester United, has ruled out moving into coaching when his career ends.

But Capello has seen what the 35-year-old Beckham can offer when his playing career is over after taking him to the World Cup as part of his backroom staff.

“He has big experience,” Capello said. “He knows different styles from Spain, Italy and USA. He knows a lot of different things. I think he can be a manager. The manager is a difficult job, but he is intelligent. I think he can do it.”

Beckham has appeared 115 times for his country — the record for an English outfield player — but is unlikely to feature again.

Capello faced criticism in the British media earlier this month for announcing on television that Beckham was too old to be considered for England duty again.

Keen to quell any rift with Beckham, Capello broke his usual practice by later ringing him in the United States to explain the decision.

“I spoke with David because he was a part of the staff in the World Cup,” Capello said during a media briefing at Wembley Stadium. “Usually I don’t speak on the phone with the players. In my career I never did this, but in this case I spoke.”

While not expressing regret about his handling of the situation, Capello now knows to tread more carefully when discussing England’s biggest sports star.

To that end, Capello is now claiming — with little conviction in his voice — that Beckham could still potentially play again for England.

But in response to questions about Beckham, Capello repeatedly emphasized that nurturing fresh talent is the priority after a woeful World Cup campaign that saw the team go out in the second round.

“First he has to play a game,” Capello said of Beckham, who is recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury. “We are monitoring all the players ... the door is open always for all the players but now I think about the young players. They need to play more games and get more experience.

“For me some players will be difficult to choose another time because of their age. I have to prepare for the Euros.”

Qualifying for Euro 2012 begins on Friday with a home match against Bulgaria before playing at Switzerland the following Tuesday. Fulham’s 24-year-old goalkeeper David Stockdale will be called up for the first time after impressing in a 2-2 draw against Manchester United last weekend.

But another veteran who won’t be part of the squad is Paul Scholes. The 35-year-old midfielder rejected a chance to play for England at the World Cup six years after announcing his international retirement, but his impressive start to the season with Manchester United had led to hopes he would reconsider that decision.

“He is a fantastic player,” Capello said. “We spoke with him (on Wednesday). He said he is too old to play (for England and) for United in the Premier League and the Champions League.”

Another player Capello has been urged to select is Mikel Arteta, Everton’s Spanish midfielder who is now eligible to play for England having lived in the country for five years.

The 28-year-old Arteta played at under-21 level for Spain, but has never featured for the newly crowned world champions at senior level due to the presence of midfielders Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.

It could take Arteta nine months to apply for a British passport — and Capello says he wouldn’t be considered for England until that process started.

“I like to speak about the players that I can select,” Capello said. “When I can select him I can speak about him. I can’t select (him) because he is not English.”

Aware of a potential public outcry, however, England’s Football Association has insisted that the issue of selecting a player who had switched allegiances would have to be considered at an executive level.

Before then, those same executives could be considering Capello’s future if he doesn’t make a strong start to Euro 2012 qualifying.

“I’m a fighter. It’s my job,” Capello said. “During the last season in Madrid (in 2006-7) it was a tough time, it was more or less the same (as England now) but at the end I won (the title) and that changes everything. Now when I work everything is really good because I remember what I did (then).”

With England he won nine out of 10 World Cup qualifiers before the team flopped in South Africa.

“I don’t understand why if before I was so good, after (I am) so bad,” Capello said as he prepared to name the 23-man squad for the qualifiers he hopes will help to repair his reputation.