Capello Will Give Squad a Clean Slate, Admits Gerrard

The new England manager Fabio Capello has told his squad they all start with a clean slate, according to midfielder Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool captain, tipped to lead out the side against Switzerland at Wembley on Wednesday, said the change in management style between the Italian and former boss Steve McClaren had been noticed by the players, but all felt positive about the future.

"Everyone's nervous because it is a new manager and we don't know much about him and he doesn't know much about us," said Gerrard. "We had a quick meeting last night and he told us it is a fresh start for everyone. He thinks we can improve defensively and going forward and we were straight into it this morning.

"He is a very good manager and you want to work with the best and the FA has certainly employed one of the best managers in the world."

Capello has a reputation for being a disciplinarian and Gerrard said the players were still adjusting to the new system. "Different managers have different ideas and rules," he added. "It takes time to adapt and I'm sure we will do in time but the first 24 hours have been good. I don't think as a footballer you are scared of any manager but you have to respect them and you have to adapt to what the main man wants.You want to impress the manager. No one is guaranteed a starting place so we have to use these friendlies to impress."

In John Terry's absence Gerrard has emerged as the front-runner to be captain and although Capello will reveal tomorrow who will wear the armband, the Italian has stressed he will not make a decision on a permanent skipper for a while. Gerrard has led out his country before and would relish the opportunity to do so again. "Of course it would be a great honor," he said. "We have to respect the fact John Terry is still our captain. He is not involved so we will have to wait and see who the manager will go with. But until he makes that decision I don't want to say too much."

Much has been made of Capello having to learn English in order to communicate with the squad but it appears he has honored his pledge to master the language within a month as he was understood fully by the players when he spoke to them in a meeting and at training. "It was all English. It surprised me, he was really good," said Gerrard. "All the session was put across to the players in English. He got some help from a translator but it was better than I thought."

On Capello's decision not to select David Beckham for what would have been his 100th cap, Gerrard said: "I'm sure once he is back playing on a regular basis he can convince the manager to pick him. Everyone is talking about the 99 caps - David has to get back playing football and I'm sure the 100th cap will come. He [Capello] makes the decisions and all the other players go along with it."