Learn to Speak English If You Want Success, Warns Benítez

Rafael Benítez believes Fabio Capello's first task should be to improve his grasp of English after admitting struggles with the language caused him untold problems during his first season at Liverpool.

The Spaniard arrived at Anfield in 2004 with only a limited understanding of English, and a demanding workload reconstructing the Liverpool squad - and ultimately winning the Champions League in his first campaign - meant plans for private tuition several times a week fell by the wayside. It is a lesson Benítez has advised Capello not to repeat.

"The first thing Capello will need to do is improve his English," Liverpool's manager said yesterday. "It is very important that you can express yourself, especially at half-time in a changing room which is the crucial time for a manager.

"I had many problems at first, confusing wine and win was one example, and my players would be laughing at times when I was trying to explain things. You think everyone understands football but a foreign manager also needs to understand the humour and the small details.

"Now I am more comfortable with the language and in a few years I'll probably have a Scouse accent. I thought I could learn the language in three to six months but it was closer to a year. Just in time for [the European Cup final in] Istanbul."

Nationality not language was singled out as the chief concern by Gareth Southgate and Steve Coppell as they reflected on the Football Association's selection of Capello. They agreed that the Italian's record makes him an outstanding candidate to succeed Steve McClaren but would prefer an English manager.

"I don't understand the point of international football if the manager, coach, kit man, etc are not all English. I don't see the point of it if it's not about representing your country," said Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager and former England defender. "That may sound xenophobic but surely the point of international football is that it is xenophobic.

"Otherwise international football becomes like club football; it's just like the Champions League. I think it's strange that Fifa allows it [the appointment of foreign managers] to happen.

"But I'm sure Fabio Capello will improve the England team. He's fantastically well qualified, absolutely the best qualified of the candidates I've seen. He will probably have an advantage over English coaches in that people won't know so much about him and he may get a longer honeymoon than an English manager we know everything about."

Coppell believes the trend to look overseas for managers, whether at club or international level, has made it almost impossible for young English coaches to break through. "I'm sad, to be honest," said Reading's manager, another former England international. "I'm a proud English manager and I would have loved an Englishman to have been in charge. You look at the list of contenders and what [Capello] has done ticks all the boxes but I just wish he was English."

Coppell is concerned for the future. "We have created a situation where it is very hard for an English manager to get to the top of the tree. The big teams will now always go for continental managers with European experience."

Sven-Goran Eriksson, England's first foreign manager from 2001-2006, feels the FA "can't go wrong" with Capello. "I was an opponent to him for 10 years in Serie A," Manchester City's manager said. "He is a very good man, he is a very good manager. His record speaks very clear: he has won many titles in Italy, he won titles in Madrid twice."