Time to earn his money

It is a curious feature of Fabio Capello's England regime that the players arrived in Barcelona yesterday none the wiser as to what the team would be to face Andorra tonight. This week England have done none of what players call "shape work" – when the definitive first XI play as a team against a shadow XI – and there has been no formation work on defending set pieces. That had been a private complaint of the goalkeeper David James after the draw with the Czech Republic in which he was beaten by a free-kick.

When Capello took over at the start of the year, his secrecy over the team until the very last minute seemed like an interesting quirk, a feature of his flinty determination to do things his way.

Increasingly, however, it is becoming baffling to the players and, it has been suggested, counter- productive. All he would concede yesterday was that Rio Ferdinand was injured and will miss tonight's game. Surely against Andorra in his first 2010 World Cup qualifier, the England manager would be confident of winning whether the opposition knew the identity of his team or not?

Related articles

• Upson fits bill for England as Ferdinand is ruled out
• James Lawton: Let's hope Capello can bring a roar from Rooney the quiet lion
• Search the news archive for more stories

That was not the only thing he was defensive about yesterday. Capello also said he would not stand for any more criticism from fellow managers, in direct response to Harry Redknapp's claim after the Czech Republic game that he was wasting Steven Gerrard by playing him on the left wing. "I respect the club managers – I want them to respect me," he said. "As president [of the League Managers' Association] I'd prefer it if other managers didn't comment on England's performances."

His midfield is still a work in progress. In training on Thursday, two midfields lined up against each other. Theo Walcott, Jermaine Jenas, Gareth Barry and Stewart Downing were in one. David Bentley, David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole were in the other. It left the players none the wiser. The second quartet had the bigger names in it but, the players reasoned, there was no chance Capello would drop Barry or play Bentley and Beckham in the same team.

Given how well he thought the 4-3-2-1 formation worked against the Czech Republic, Capello is more likely to pick a midfield of three with Wayne Rooney and either Joe Cole or Downing behind Jermain Defoe. If Walcott is to play in the midfield three, then why does Capello keep insisting that he plays as a striker for Arsenal? The goalkeeper and back four can be virtually taken for granted but the rest of the team will remain a mystery until Capello announces it on the team bus tonight.

Capello might argue that keeping the team secret works to his advantage for the match against Croatia on Wednesday, but their coach, Slaven Bilic, will have a good idea of how England will play from the way that they line up against Andorra. So what's the point? On Thursday, his compatriot Giovanni Trapattoni named his Republic of Ireland team to play Georgia today. One theory is that Capello is wavering and considering the inclusion of Walcott for his first start in an England shirt, and his first competitive match. The 19-year-old scored a brilliant solo goal in training on Thursday that caught the eye of his manager.

There are few teams that will be more important than the one which he picks to play tonight and, potentially, against Croatia. After the Euro 2008 debacle, it was the difficulty of playing Croatia again, this time in World Cup qualifying, that persuaded the Football Association that it had to appoint a coach of Capello's standing. This game is where he demonstrates his true value to England and it will be no excuse to complain of being without Steven Gerrard. A £6m salary requires the manager to cope whatever the resources.

Capello's first England camp in February began with a set of rules. No visitors at the team hotel. No snacks between meals. No mobile phones outside of the players' rooms. No being late for dinner. It was lapped up by an English public fed up with what they perceived was a culture of mollycoddled failure among their best players. The libertarian regime of Sven Goran Eriksson and the "let's all be mates" attitude of Steve McClaren was swept aside. The one concession was that players could snack on fruit and nuts (as opposed to Cadbury's Fruit and Nut) between meals, although the alternative has not proved popular. Seven months on, England camps are becoming something of an endurance test for the players.

On Thursday afternoon they were permitted to play nine holes of golf but not before a lot of negotiations with Capello. The once bizarre sight of England footballers, in Umbro gear, wandering around the Harlequin shopping centre in Watford is now a thing of the past after Capello stopped them going off the site of their base, the Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire. A small battle has been won over the choice of pre-match food – they were not allowed pasta before the Czech game because they ate it for lunch – although players still spend a lot of time alone in their rooms.

Capello knows one way of managing, the strict discipline of the great Milan team he inherited in 1991. There the club controlled every aspect of the players' lives, from what they ate to when they went to bed, and he has replicated that throughout his career. But there are serious questions as to whether it works at international level. What good is a diet that a player will only keep to for the 30 days a year they are with England?

There are few England players who could truthfully say that they have had much direct communication with Capello. Communication comes mainly from Franco Baldini, his general manager, and often through the player translator Christian Lattanzio, seconded from West Ham. The new England manager has made some concessions to understand his players over the last few days, but tonight and on Wednesday he will truly understand how much they have understood him.

Long life in the Pyrenees

*Andorra have won one competitive match. They beat Macedonia in 2004 to record their first victory during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.

*The country's home stadium, Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall, holds just 1,800 people.

*The principality, located in the eastern Pyrenees, has the highest life expectancy in the world at 83.51 years.

*Only 33 per cent of the 70,000 population hold Andorran nationality, outnumbered by Spaniards (43 per cent). The official language is Catalan. Tourism accounts for 80 per cent of GDP.

England's five foes

Tonight's qualifier is the first of 10 hurdles for England en route to the 2010 World Cup finals. To qualify automatically England must win Group Six. If they come second they can progress only via a two-leg play-off against another runner-up.

Andorra

Fifa rank 186 (England 15)

Away: Tonight.

Home: 10 June 2009

Non-entities rather than minnows whose place in this competition owes everything to Uefa politics and nothing to merit. They do not even have a stadium in the Principality capable of staging this match. If England fail to take six points from the two fixtures Fabio Capello's position will be untenable.

Croatia

Fifa rank 5

Away: Wednesday.

Home: 9 September 2009

From the ridiculous to the sublime. Croatia are not quite as good as they think they are, but they are a dangerous side with pace, flair and grit. This is a good time to play them, with uncertainty over Slaven Bilic's future, a possible Euro 2008 hangover, and injuries to Eduardo Silva and Niko Kranjcar. Nevertheless, England will do well to take four points from them. If they can, qualification should follow.

Kazahkstan

Fifa rank 120

Home: 11 October 2008

Away: 6 June 2009

Another political recruit to Uefa, for whom every member is a vote at Fifa's top table. The former Asian nation offer little threat on the pitch, but the away trip presents logistical issues, especially at the end of a long season. Expect an understrength England XI to travel.

Belarus

Fifa rank 57

Away: 15 October 2008

Home: 14 October 2009

Alexander Hleb, now of Barcelona, is the most notable player for this improving former Soviet Republic, who beat an already-qualified Netherlands in Euro 2008 qualifying.

Ukraine

Fifa rank 26

Home: 1 April 2009

Away: 10 October 2009

In a period of cyclical decline while they seek successors to the Andrei Shevchenko generation. Anatoly Tymoshuck is the rising star, but he is 29.