“It’s
important to win, always,” he said. “It’s important to beat Sweden after 43
years [England's
last victory over the same opponents was in 1968].
“But, for
me, it was more important to see Jones, Walker, Rodwell, to play against a team
which is really organised on the pitch and difficult to play against. The
answer that I received from the performance is really, really important. These
three players played really, really well.”
Jones, just
19, and making his third consecutive start for England in yet another role for
the team, was particularly impressive according to Capello.
“For me, it
was important to see the players. I changed the system and played with three
midfielders and three forwards, and it was important to see Jones in the
position where Scott Parker usually plays,” he said.
“It’s
different to the back four. He played really well. It was also also important
to see Rodwell as a midfielder, to see these players against a team who are
difficult to beat.”
Asked
whether 20-year-old Rodwell, after making his first start for his country, was
a contender for Euro 2012, Capello added: “At the end of the season I will
decide. I hope that all the midfield will be fit. Rodwell is a really
interesting player, a young player. I think the competition to play for the
Euros will be really, really strong. I hope it will be strong for all the
players.”
England’s goal
was their 2,000th scored in all competition but Capello said: “I read all the
statistics but, for me, it’s not so important. It’s important, probably, after
10 years: people will say ‘this player scored the 2,000th goal’. But during
these games I’m looking for something new, and I found it.
“I found
three really interesting players. These three players are really good
technically, really good physically, and all three are fast. That is important
in modern football.”
The young
players who featured at Wembley also performed “without fear”, Capello said.
The England
manager added: “I’m happy but we need to improve. When you have the ball you
have to move it quicker. I learned a lot [about playing without Wayne Rooney]
and that was important. I’m happy for the experiments.
“Without
Rooney we changed the style and played with three midfielders, we won two games
[against Spain and Sweden] and we created a lot of chances. I know that Rooney
is a fantastic player but I saw during these two games really good spirit.”
The
back-to-back friendly victories over Spain and Sweden meant England finished
the calendar year unbeaten. “I’ve been really interested in the last two games
we’ve played, against Spain and Sweden – difficult games.
“We’re
unbeaten in 2011, but those are just statistics. It will be important what we
do in the Euros, not what we’ve done in this year.”
There was
some dispute over England’s goal but Gareth Barry, whose header deflected off
defender Daniel Majstorovic, later revealed it had been attributed to the
Swede.
“I just got
told it’s going down as an own goal,” the midfielder said. “I got a touch on it
and it skimmed off the defender.
“It would
have been great to score the 2,000th goal and I’m a bit disappointed but I’m
not a goalscorer and I won’t be crying too much.”
Wayne
Rooney’s appeal against the three-match ban which is threatening his
participation at Euro 2012 will be heard on Dec 9.
Uefa’s
appeals body will deal with the case of the England striker a week after the
draw for the tournament is made. Rooney was shown a red card for violent
conduct in England’s final qualifier against Montenegro last month.
The victim
of Rooney’s challenge, defender Miodrag Dzudovic, has already written to Uefa
to lend his support to the Manchester United striker.
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