England duo Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard have praised Italian manager Fabio Capello for the impact he has had upon the national side.
Confidence was low in the England camp when Capello took charge of the side following their failure to qualify for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
However, during Capello’s tenure England have returned to winning ways and they currently enjoy a 100 per cent record in Group Six having won all four of their World Cup qualifiers to date.
“We believe we can win every game and a lot of that does come from the manager,” Rooney told the Daily Mirror.
“He’s just brilliant. He knows what he wants from us and gets that across really well.”
Lampard meanwhile, believes Capello has helped to bring stability, discipline and focus back to the England team.
“A lot of people made a thing of the WAGS, and a lack of a ‘caring’ England team,” said Lampard.
“There was an element of truth in what was said.
“We want to win. We just needed someone to put us in line a little bit and make us concentrate on what we were doing.
“Those things can be a slight culture shock. But then you start winning games and you get a really good feeling about things.
“Looking back, Capello was exactly what we needed.”
He added: “We needed a very strong leader who had his own mind.
“You can see that with Capello. I used to see it at (Real) Madrid.
“He would make strong decisions on players. They weren’t always what people might have considered the favourable, glamorous decision, but it was for the benefit of the team.
“Everyone has an opinion on England but we need a strong man who will not listen to anyone else and go his own route.”
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