Capello set to ditch England old guard for Euro 2012

ENGLAND manager Fabio Capello had something of an epiphany as he watched his players warm up before the Wales game at Wembley on Tuesday, writes Matt Lawton in the Mail.The Italian saw a "dramatic loss of confidence" among some of the team, as they trotted out in front of the Wembley crowd, and he immediately realised it was going to be a tough night. But he thought he understood why. "He thinks some of the more senior players are scarred by the bitter disappointment of previous tournaments and qualification campaigns and by the criticism that follows the failure," explains Lawton.So how will he react? According to Dominic Fifield in the Guardian, he will "step up his attempts to reinvent the national team by integrating younger players once qualification for Euro 2012 has been achieved."That could spell danger for the likes of Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.But not all the old guard are in danger. Oliver Kay in the Times says: "Among the other senior players, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney remain integral to Capello's plans, but the Italian feels the need to cull his squad of others synonymous with past underachievement.""They will not all be left out," says Jason Burt in the Telegraph. "But Capello will use warm-up games [if England qualify for Euro 2012], set to include matches against Spain and Holland, to blood young players in the hope that they can be less inhibited."It is a change of tack from the Italian, who will leave his post after the European championships. "He has worked hard on rebuilding confidence but has concluded that he would be better served focusing on younger players once qualification is secured," says Burt. What prompted this sudden change of plan? The manager himself explained: "You can train well, respect everything I tell them, the players can be really good but when they are here at the game it is different. I hope to find a solution. I need to find that." ·