A costly foreign affair

Last weekend saw developments in both the international and domestic arena in England but only one of them turned out to be finite.

The appointment of Fabio Capello and his entourage was a swift end to what the Football Association's Barwick had promised to be a detailed search for Steve McClaren's successor.

It appears that he has steamrollered this through and some members of the board are none to happy claiming consultation has been minimal. This is probably a result of Barwick letting the board overrule him last time when McClaren was given the job in preference to his favourite Martin O'Neil. He was never going to let this happen again and so it has proved.

It is difficult though to argue with the decision when one of the most successful managers in Europe not only expressed an interest in the job but was also available. So once the Morinho approach faltered then it was the obvious move.

The main issue surrounding the appointment is the fact that joining him will be four members of his loyal backroom staff so English involvement is scarce to say the least. Even if he brings in Stuart Pearce or Alan Shearer it is doubtful they will have any kind of meaningful role.

The estimated cost of this Italian Job is £40 million should he be successful which is a vast sum of money but one that can be justified through increased television rights which come with a high-profile England team. Capello himself will earn £6 million a year which is up with the highest paid in Europe but the FA obviously believe his track record commands such a fee.

One of the biggest problems with this whole situation is that it will not feel like an English achievement should the unthinkable happen and they go on to win a major tournament. It is possible they will become the Chelsea equivalent of international football with opposition fans claiming they have bought the trophy.

As always only time will tell whether the 'golden generation' can be moulded into a world class team but at least the rudderless McClaren era with its lack of planning and expertise is behind us - it really was a dark period for English football and should be remembered as such.

Meanwhile, the top four teams in the Premiership gave their foreign stars a run out against each other in a double header on Sunday. First up were Manchester United and Liverpool at Anfield with the Merseysiders needing the win more to stay in touch.

United's record at Anfield though is formidable and so it proved as another one-nil victory saw the gap between the two teams increase to nine which already is probably too much and another year of cup games beckons for Liverpool which is something that the owners Hicks and Gillett will find hard to swallow.

Liverpool created enough chances to at least draw the game but a late first half goal from Tevez was enough to take the points and if Rooney had slotted home a sitter in the last minute then the picture would have been even bleaker.

Meanwhile, at the Emirates it was another late first half goal from ex-Chelsea player Gallas that saw Arsenal take the lead in what was up until then a tight affair. By the end of the game it was 10 goal attempts each but none of them could add to that late first half winner.

Chelsea are now seven points behind Arsenal and with their squad losing key players such as Drogba and Essien to the African Nations Cup it looks an uphill effort for the London side to regain the Premiership. They do, however, have one chink of light which is that all three of the other big teams have to play at Stamford Bridge but even three victories may not be enough.

Arsenal though are playing well and have come through the mini bad patch and will go into the Christmas period knowing their destiny is in their own hands. Only Manchester United look capable of challenging them and it looks set for a battle between the two until the end of the season.

What is certain though is that the foreign contingent playing on these shores will play a critical factor in the outcome and given recent developments it is likely that it will be this way for some time to come. This will especially be the case until the grass roots training and coaching begins to mirror that of our European counterparts who understand far better than us that technical skill if taught well to teenagers will remain with them throughout their career.

Maybe the cool Italian given charge of the national team will impart some of this wisdom on the powers that be ... and for once they will listen to a football man and not a money man.