Milan Legends: Don Fabio

By: Gianfranco | July 26th, 2008

I can’t tell you how surprised I was that as I was writing this legends post, Alessio had posted a negative bio of our old friend Fabio Capello. But it just goes to show how one man can have a very different persona for two different sets of fans. Capello did not have the most illustrious playing career for the Rossoneri though he did have 65 appearances in the twilight of his career. Capello became the stuff of legends on the bench.

There is one word that sums up Fabio Cappello for me and for most any Milan fan in the ‘90’s, Invicibles. May 19, 1991 to March 21, 1993 (yes you read that right!) Milan went undefeated including an entire Serie A season in middle. A feat that spanned 58 games and is still yet to be touched to this day.

Five scudetti and one glorious CL trophy top the list of Cappello’s Milan career. But what people forget is that with Milan, Capello truly coached the beautiful game, with the likes of the flying Dutchmen and the airtight defense of Baresi and company. He has been called a boring and defensive coach, but in that time when I truly became a passionate Milan fan I saw many a prolific game with Milan putting many a goal on the likes of Serie A’s finest teams. Scoring teams into submission from Spain to the tip of the boot.

Many players can also thank Don Fabio for their success thanks to their inclusion in these great squads in a very ideal manner. He had a way of putting players into the formation and making it work. Even if his formations where a bit defensive he was blessed with a great attacking group and excelled the careers of last week’s legend Demetrio, and the likes of Boban and Dejan. One man who can thank Capello for all his success is Cristian Panucci who has followed Don Fabio on all his European excursions.

Capello now roams the bench for the English National team where he is trying to lead the three lions to the World Cup, but as a Milan fan I can only hope that one day returns to roam the bench of the Azzuri when that endeavor is done. Before ending up in England however, Capello made stops in Roma (he must be good coach to lead these guys to a scudetto!), Juventus, and Real Madrid where he lead each and every club to domestic success but never again put his hands on old big ears. Though he may have been mired in the Calciopoli scandal, those Juventus teams played hard and smart, but the rest is for the Juventus fans to decide.

I will say that for me there is no better club coach on the planet, and in time he will be able to prove his mettle on the International stage, but lets just hope he succeeds at home instead of abroad.