Capello plans for the future

With England's youth teams in the spotlight, Fabio Capello has spoken of the importance of gathering tournament experience at a young age.

Stuart Pearce's Under-21 side reached the European Championship final last month, while the U19s travel to Ukraine in a fortnight looking to emulate that achievement, and Capello is hopeful that the experience will stand England's next generation in good stead.

Speaking to Fifa.com, Capello insisted that youth tournaments "are really important".

He added: "When you play at any level in England, you play against good teams, but not the same level as you would do in international games against international teams. You also start to understand what it means to wear the England shirt – and that’s really important.

"As I said before, the academies are working very well in England – and we can see the results. I’m very lucky, because I’ve had the opportunity to look at Arsenal’s academy where the England team train and their work is incredibly good. It’s a very important example for the other English academies.

"I’m very interested in the academies of the clubs in England – but they all seem to be working very well. I’m very, very happy about the future of England and I think it will be better."

Talking about individuals, Capello believes that Stuart Pearce's squad will be able to provide even more talent to make the step up to the senior squad.

"There are some players who played in Sweden [at the UEFA Under-21 European Championship] who have already played with us; Theo Walcott, Joe [Hart], [James] Milner; they are able to play with us.

"In the future, I think that we will have new players with us. I always follow the Under-21 squad and Stuart Pearce, who is a really good manager, is always with me. We’ve spoken a lot about new players and sometimes when he’s said: ‘Fabio, he is good,’ I’ve followed his advice."

To read the full interview, visit Fifa.com