New league, very different challenges for Fabio Capello as China career gets off to a rough start
Italian coach continues to struggle in Chinese Super League with Jiangsu Suning as his search for a first league win goes on after four weeks in charge
As he won league titles as head coach of Real Madrid, Milan and Juventus, Fabio Capello never had to contemplate relegation. In his first foray to China, it has suddenly become a very real threat.
“Maybe this is the most testing situation that Capello has ever faced,” Gary White, who led Shanghai Shenxin clear of relegation from China’s League One in 2016, said.
“He does not have a team full of world-class players to rely on. He must bring the big foreign stars and the Chinese players together and get them to play for each other. It is not about quality, it is about motivation.”
This season the stars remained at the club and firepower was added in the shape of Colombian international striker Roger Martinez.
There were high hopes at the start of the season but the expected title challenge hasn’t materialised and Jiangsu started to slip down the standings, winning just once in the first third of the season. South Korean coach Choi Yong-soo resigned on June 1.
“With the experience Capello has, you would think he can turn it around,” White said. “This club should not be bottom of the league with the players they have. He has to get them to play for each other, the team, the fans and the city.”
The expected upturn has yet to happen, though the 71-year-old Italian coach is trying to stay positive.
Capello has been in China for less than a month but much of the Chinese media has warned of the need for a result soon.
However, Capello can take heart from Felix Magath. The former Bayern Munich boss arrived in June 2016 to take over a struggling Shandong Luneng.
“The Chinese Super League is a tough league and when you are in the relegation zone, confidence falls and when you are a big team with famous players, the other teams like to beat you,” said Magath, who steered Shandong to safety by just two points last term.
This season Shandong are much-improved and currently sit in fifth.
For Capello, anywhere outside the bottom two when the season ends in October will do.