England coach Fabio Capello is confused by his transformation from a "god" to a "monster" since his team faltered at the World Cup.
Preparing for European Championship qualifying, a combative Capello fought back at the English media at claims he is a clueless coach lacking tactical ability, saying: "You create the God, and you create the monster."Fabio Capello accepts he will be depicted as a "god" or a "monster" but there will be no in between as long as he remains England manager.
On Friday Capello sends a team into battle in a competitive environment since the inept performance that consigned England to the World Cup dustbin in Bloemfontein.
At the time, it seemed Capello was destined for similar treatment, only to survive some serious discussions within the FA high command and be propelled towards Euro 2012.
If all goes well, Capello will get the chance of resurrection in Poland and the Ukraine two summers from now. The alternative will be further embarrassment and, depending on when the setbacks come, the end of an England era.
It seems so amazing these thoughts can be held about a man who could do no wrong. Yet the still-continuing Capello Index has changed all that.
Even the Italian himself accepts perceptions have changed.
"You create the god, and you create the monster, no?" said Capello, staring straight back at the inquisitors he believes are responsible for the construction and dismantling of reputations.
"I remember what you wrote about me a short time before this period.
"I live the same moment when you write well of me as when you write badly of me. You have to live with the pressure. It is my job.
"This is my team. We lost one game in the World Cup after one big mistake from the referee.
"You don't remember this. But after this, your opinion about me changed completely.
"You wrote a lot of things differently. But I live with this situation."
Capello doubtless concludes a depiction of him as a "Jackass", on the surface because he dropped Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere from his latest squad but also triggered by the debacle in South Africa, is grossly unfair.
Many would agree. However, his fixation on the disallowed Frank Lampard equaliser totally overlooks the faults that caused England to be two goals behind in the first place and the lack of tactical discipline that resulted in them being picked off on the break when there was almost half an hour remaining in a match where they trailed by a single goal.
As usual, plenty of coverage has been devoted to Capello's likely line-up. Whether, for instance, skipper Steven Gerrard will be handed a central midfield role or one out on the left. If Wayne Rooney is to be deployed as a lone front-man or accompanying a central striker? What about Phil Jagielka in central defence.
For the record, it seems the latter applies in the first two instances and the correct reply to the third is, yes.
But all of this, according to Capello, largely ignores the point.
"Yes, you are a lot of managers," he scoffed, training his sights directly on the media once more.
"I have read that. You have to play different styles...yeah, yeah, yeah.
"Before this game (Germany), I never read these different things.
"Where is the different style? Is there a difference between 4-4-2, 4-5-1 or 9-1? You are happy to write different numbers but teams play 9-1. That is the modern style.
"See Barcelona and other teams. All the players have to defend, all the players have to go forward. We played this style always.
"When we win we play the perfect style. When we lose you question positions on the pitch. It's your job. It's my job to find the best solution."
The absences of Frank Lampard and John Terry have been noted but even without the Chelsea duo, the solution looks very familiar.
Of England's likely starting line-up, eight were in the team beaten by Germany. Aside from Terry and Lampard, the only missing player is David James.
It hardly represents a new era, even if Theo Walcott, Joe Hart and Jagielka do bring an element of freshness, while Adam Johnson looks certain to come off the bench at some stage.
Capello is wary of a Bulgarian side who, with Dimitar Berbatov retired, will threaten chiefly through Manchester City reject Martin Petrov.
Pace is ensured therefore in a team that has met England eight times and never won.
Four of those meetings ended in draws though, an outcome which would leave Capello on shaky ground ahead of Tuesday's trip to Switzerland, which is now his home.
But if the bells are tolling, Capello prefers not to hear them.
"We have to wait and see the results," he replied, as it was pointed out that he could be out of a job if England suffer two bad results.
"I am focused on the games."
The Italian led England to nine wins in 10 matches in qualifying for the World Cup to draw comparisons with Alf Ramsey, England's World Cup-winning manager from 1966. But the team played poorly throughout the tournament in South Africa before being knocked out by Germany's 4-1 win in the second round.
