By Joe Doyle
3 Jun 2011 15:06:00
Fabio Capello, England
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Fabio Capello believes Darren Bent is an important figure for England ahead of Saturday’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley.
The manager feels the Aston Villa striker has noticeably improved in the past year, and with Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe absent through suspension and injury respectively, Bent will be the spearhead of the England attack.
“I know him very well,” Capello said. “In the box when he sees the ball he scores goals, I hope on Saturday he will do the same.
“In my career as manager, some players were not so good when they were 20, 21, 22; but after they improved.
“Sometimes it’s important which team you play in, and the relationship with the manager, the private life. It’s impossible to know the future. It’s important for us that Bent has improved a lot and he is scoring a lot of goals.”
Capello also defended the decision to let members of his squad go on holiday at the end of the season before returning to training for the match, and said he wanted players to have a break at the end of the next campaign prior to the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.
“I learned a lot at the World Cup; I learned the players are rather tired at the end of the season,” he said.
“I think being on holiday is good, they recover their forces, their mind energy. It is really important.”