Capello: Enough with the little sideways passes – Italy need verticality

Fabio Capello rarely raises his voice, but people listen. After an Italy night against Belgium in the Nations League, he told Gazzetta dello Sport a simple thing: enough with the little sideways passes. The former AC Milan, Juventus, Roma, Real Madrid, England and Russia coach argued that Italy circulate the ball too much across the pitch and need verticality to hurt opponents in the final third. The interview was relayed by Goal.com. The real point was not anger but diagnosis: not a lack of control, but control without penetration. Italy under Roberto Mancini had plenty of possession but often froze in front of organised defences. Capello proposed two remedies: fast vertical passes and crosses into the box. He also acknowledged that Italy showed good things in the second half. The tactical advice is not new. It follows the mainstream European orthodoxy that possession is not enough. What gives it weight is the authority of the speaker. Yet that authority is also a risk: it can make people overrate the evidence. The original piece contains no xG, no possession share, no final-third entries. The conclusion is drawn from one match, even from one half. The bigger question is why Italy passed sideways so much. During Mancini's era, Italy lacked a world-class centre-forward. Without a penalty-box reference, vertical passes have no destination, so players fall back on safe horizontal passes. Capello's crossing advice exposes a paradox: he calls for a solution without naming who will finish it. The diagnosis may describe a symptom, not the root cause. Italy cannot buy a No.9; they must develop one or naturalise one. That makes the problem structural, not tactical. Verticality also depends on the opponent. Against a deep low block, it is less useful than width, set pieces and overloads. The deeper value of the column is as a narrative event. It shows how Italian football debates operate: an authoritative ex-coach injects a diagnosis through a major newspaper, and the media turns that opinion into a scoreboard for the coach. One match will not decide the truth. Only a longer data window and a real solution for the No.9 position will.