Fabio gives England '80 per cent' for effort

He also spoke about what kind of team he expects England to become under his guidance. 'They will be disciplined on the pitch, with good movement as a team and at the same time capable of stressing the qualities and abilities of each individual player,' he said during an interview with the Italian media.

Capello could not understand the fuss over his strict set of rules for the squad. 'I just carried over my working method, with a few adjustments to the local habits,' he said.

As for the shortage of English players in the matches he watches, he said: 'It's a statistical fact. Roberto Donadoni can select from a much larger pool of Italian players in Serie A. But English players are tactically fine. Against Switzerland what I asked over three days in terms of team movement and schemes was performed at 80 per cent.

'I've found the players well disposed and eager. I am very satisfied with their attitude. I had seen most of them in action before, but watching them on TV doesn't allow you to appraise them off the ball. You can only verify their tactical level from the pitch. But in England there are club sides of very high tactical levels.'

Is the language still a problem? 'I'm happy with my progress,' he said. 'The only difficulty when I tour Premier League matches is that different people in different accents talk to me and, in some instances, I can hardly understand a word.'