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20/12/2007 01:33
Pele Reflects On Changing Criteria For England Managers
England's appointment of Italian Fabio Capello as national team manager did not entirely surprise Brazilian legend Pele - though he relected that former England greats who were his contemporaries would never have imagined a foreigner in the role.
Commenting on England's decision to go for a foreign manager again in Fabio Capello, Pele said the likes of Bobby Charlton - respected opponents on the international stage when the Brazilian was a player - would never have backed the idea of anyone other than an Englishman doing the job.
Capello became England's second foreign coach this week, replacing Steve McClaren who was sacked last month. McClaren had taken over from his former boss, the Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, after the 2006 World Cup finals.
Pele said: "A long time ago I used to talk to my English friends like Bobby [Charlton] and they could not accept the idea of a foreign coach.
"But there was one with Eriksson and now there's another and England also tried to get [Luiz Felipe] Scolari two years ago don't forget.
"Capello is a very good coach and very experienced so let's see if he can win something for England."
Could something similar - a foreigner in charge of the national team - ever happen in Brazil? Pele thinks not.
"It's very different," he said. "Maybe an Argentine because it's so close but I think it would be very difficult for a foreign cosch in Brazil."
Capello's appointment has raised the question of why England struggle to find an Englishmn good enough to do the job with any success.
Pele's view is simply that there is now too little faith in home-grown coaches.
"I'm sure there are good young coaches in England," he said. "But I'm not surprised they don't get the job because you have to answer to the public and maybe they are not famous enough or don't have enough experience."
And. as a fan of the English Premier League, he made the point that just being the "strongest league in the world" was no guarantee of success on the international stage.
"Look at Holland when they reached two World Cup finals but their league was not the strongest," he said.
"Then look at Spain, they have great teams but don't do very well at the big tournaments.
"I think with England and Germany the big problem is bringing through young players. In Germany they haven't had a good young player come through for 15 years while in England the base is not very good."
Pele was speaking to the Guardian at the launch of a collection of medals portraying his 1,283 goals. Each will be auctioned to raise money for Goals for Life, a project raising funds for a Brazilian children's hospital.
Mark Hinton, Goal.com
Pele Reflects On Changing Criteria For England Managers
England's appointment of Italian Fabio Capello as national team manager did not entirely surprise Brazilian legend Pele - though he relected that former England greats who were his contemporaries would never have imagined a foreigner in the role.
Commenting on England's decision to go for a foreign manager again in Fabio Capello, Pele said the likes of Bobby Charlton - respected opponents on the international stage when the Brazilian was a player - would never have backed the idea of anyone other than an Englishman doing the job.
Capello became England's second foreign coach this week, replacing Steve McClaren who was sacked last month. McClaren had taken over from his former boss, the Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, after the 2006 World Cup finals.
Pele said: "A long time ago I used to talk to my English friends like Bobby [Charlton] and they could not accept the idea of a foreign coach.
"But there was one with Eriksson and now there's another and England also tried to get [Luiz Felipe] Scolari two years ago don't forget.
"Capello is a very good coach and very experienced so let's see if he can win something for England."
Could something similar - a foreigner in charge of the national team - ever happen in Brazil? Pele thinks not.
"It's very different," he said. "Maybe an Argentine because it's so close but I think it would be very difficult for a foreign cosch in Brazil."
Capello's appointment has raised the question of why England struggle to find an Englishmn good enough to do the job with any success.
Pele's view is simply that there is now too little faith in home-grown coaches.
"I'm sure there are good young coaches in England," he said. "But I'm not surprised they don't get the job because you have to answer to the public and maybe they are not famous enough or don't have enough experience."
And. as a fan of the English Premier League, he made the point that just being the "strongest league in the world" was no guarantee of success on the international stage.
"Look at Holland when they reached two World Cup finals but their league was not the strongest," he said.
"Then look at Spain, they have great teams but don't do very well at the big tournaments.
"I think with England and Germany the big problem is bringing through young players. In Germany they haven't had a good young player come through for 15 years while in England the base is not very good."
Pele was speaking to the Guardian at the launch of a collection of medals portraying his 1,283 goals. Each will be auctioned to raise money for Goals for Life, a project raising funds for a Brazilian children's hospital.
Mark Hinton, Goal.com
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