Carragher: Capello gives us belief

JAMIE CARRAGHER has backed England coach Fabio Capello to handle any increased pressure he may encounter after an unimpressive start to their World Cup bid.

Capello’s tactics and team selections have come under the microscope since England were held to a 1-1 draw by the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday.

The Italian substituted James Milner before half-time after playing him out of position wide left.

Then Capello decided to replace the injured Ledley King with Carragher, who he coaxed out of international retirement, rather than Matthew Upson who has featured regularly during his reign.

But Carragher’s faith in the manager remains strong and the Liverpool defender believes his experience at Real Madrid and AC Milan will ensure he deals with being in the spotlight.

When asked if being under more pressure would affect Capello, Carragher said: “No, I don’t think so. He is a very experienced manager.

“We always think England is big pressure but managing AC Milan and Real Madrid is also big pressure on a daily basis.

“He has dealt with that and been successful. There was always going to come a point where he was going to be under pressure.

“That is part of being a manager. It can’t always be rosy but I’m sure he will have no problem.

“Then you look at his record, what he has done in his career, what he has done for now with England, qualifying etc. That is why there is faith in him.

“His record as a manager is pretty unblemished. That gives you belief for the tournament.”

Robert Green was back in training yesterday after his goalkeeping error gifted USA an equaliser.

And Carragher believes the late naming of the side by Capello – two hours before kick-off – had no bearing on Green’s error and is commonplace at Anfield.

He said: “I’m new to it with England but every manager I’ve had at Liverpool has told us the squad two hours before the game.

“A lot of the managers don’t like to give the team away for fear of the opposition finding out about the team. Why should you let the opposition know your team? That’s fair enough to me.’’

Carragher also has faith in Green to put his error behind him.

He said: “I’ve seen him today. We had a day off yesterday and I am sure he will be fine.

“At this level, every player is under a lot of scrutiny when you make a mistake. That hones things in on an individual player. We’ve all been there, we all know what he is going through, and to get to this level you’ve got to have a certain mental strength about you to get to this level in the first place. He will have no problem and will come back.”