Do International Teams Need Foreign Coaches?

There are so many fans in England who criticize teams like Arsenal and Liverpool for fielding 11 non-English players at a time. It's quite strange coming from fans of a country where two out of the three managers in the last eight or so years have not been English themselves.

England has its own, diverse culture. The football style is of a particular kind. How effectively would Fabio Capello be able to gauge all this being Italian?

I've heard arguments against Arsenal, specifically, stating that a bigger English presence within the club might galvanize them when they're down. How can a manager, who can hardly speak decent English motivate his players to get a result? Even if he does speak English, what does he know about England (in this case) and the country's culture?

Almost nothing.

Fabio Capello might have watched a lot of clubs and international football involving England, but the bottom line is that he isn't English.

In fact, there are quite a lot of countries' Associations which don't want to hire foreign managers. Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and even Croatia are countries which prefer hiring managers who, despite their reputations, have gone on to achieve a lot of success at the international level.

Everyone seems to suggest that international football is different. Why is this aspect the same with England then? Why does the F.A. seem hell bent upon bringing in foreign coaches with multi-million dollar contracts, when there are quite a few talented coaches in the country?

Now, Steve McClaren shouldn't have been hired by the F.A. But, there were contenders like Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley who were interviewed—the latter is certainly an experienced enough manager to know the English game inside out, but what happened?

The F.A. chose the person who, perhaps, showed them the best PowerPoint presentation.

International football should involve a lot of passion. The players should be passionate, and so should the managers. I simply cannot understand where Fabio Capello would get patriotic. Of course, if England win, it would be a great professional achievement.

That said, the fact remains that the achievement is professional and nothing more. International football has a patriotic component, and a passion for playing or managing for your country and in theory, should be incomparable to club football.

Today, though, we live in a day and age where players retire if they're not chosen to play for their country or simply put club over country. That's today's tradition, especially in England.

It's a sad situation to be in. I'm in no way criticizing Capello's managerial acumen or his commitment to his current "project", but in my opinion his current job should be more than just a "project."

Before Capello was hired, managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were consulted by the F.A., and both managers at the time suggested that the best coach for England would be someone who is English.

"The national team should be managed by an English guy," said Wenger recently.

"I remember Sven-Goran Eriksson (as manager) playing against Sweden with England. The national anthem is played and what do you do?"

It is a pertinent question. What would "Don Fabio" do if he, as English coach, played against Italy? It would be a very strange feeling for sure.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that international coaches or managers shouldn't be foreign. The passion, the motivation and the love for your country are the main motivators while playing international football and if you lack even one, you may fail.

Maybe that's why England failed under Sven-Goran Eriksson. Perhaps, that's why they might fail under Fabio Capello, who so far has flattered to deceive in as his adopted nation's manager.