The
biggest change for Juventus the summer of 1974 involved the manager.
Carlo Parola joined from Novara to replace Vycpalek at the helm. Parola
had been Boniperti's teammate and was Juve through and through. He
wasn't a high-profile manager, but the club believed one wasn't needed.
They were well organized in every department, the squad was solid, they
would once again be competitive. Oscar Damiani, a tricky winger, added
balance to the midfield. And, at the back, there were two new faces.
Both would become outstanding defenders, though their styles were as
different as Ann Widdecombe and Kate Moss. Claudio Gentile was one of
the roughest, toughest man-markers in the history of the game. Part of
the Gentile legend has it that when Kevin Keegan went up to collect his
European Footballer of the Year award a few years later, Gentile, who
was in the audience, whispered to him: 'Had I been marking you this
season, you would never have won this award.' Whether this story is true
or apocryphal is difficult to determine, but it is certainly in keeping
with the tough-guy attitude which made Gentile so popular among certain
supporters. Gaetano Scirea was Gentile's polar opposite. A
mild-mannered sweeper, he was graceful and elegant in his movements. He
was proud of the fact that, throughout his career he was never sent off
or even suspended, a rare achievement for a defender in those days.
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Fabio
Capello made twenty-seven league appearances that year, notching three
goals. Not a bad individual return, but, privately, Juve were starting
to have serious concerns over him. It wasn't so much about his
performance: he was still a regular for Italy and still gave everything
he had on the pitch. Rather, the concern was his health. His knees
remained in bad condition; the only reason he did not miss more games
was that he would simply grit his teeth and play through the pain. He
also suffered from a recurring sports hernia (also known as 'Athletic
Pubalgia'), for which he was often given painkillers. Capello's own
stubborn determination may have aggravated the situation: he wanted to
play so badly that, on occasion, he probably pushed himself too far.
'Fabio's body did not always support him the way it should have,' says
Spinosi. 'Because he was - and is - a fighter, he just battled his way
through the pain. I remember games when he would run around as if
everything were OK. Then, in the dressing room, the pain was so strong
that he could hardly sit down.' The club reluctantly decided it was time
to move him on. Tardelli deserved more playing time and it was best to
sell Capello now, when he could still command a good price. Obviously,
they did not advertise his condition. Instead, when asked about why he
was being sold, they said 'It's a tactical decision. We no longer want
to play with a traditional midfield regista ('organizer'). That position
is going out of fashion.' Which, to some degree, was true. The midfield
playmaker, sitting in the middle of the park, dictating play, acting as
the side's metronome, was becoming extinct. The game had become faster
and more physical, central midfielders were asked to cover more ground.
It was also felt that to have a guy in that role made the side somewhat
predictable, as most of the attacking possession went through him at
some point. In addition, a new manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, was on his
way in and he preferred having two holding midfielders.
Still,
there is little question that concerns over his health were a big part
of the reason why Juventus was willing to axe Capello. He had just
turned thirty, hardly an old man, but, as one source put it: 'His birth
certificate said he was thirty, but his body was that of a
forty-year-old. Admittedly, his brain was that of a fifty-year-old with a
PhD. But his brain alone could not get him around the pitch quickly
enough.' Boniperti, the president, sealed the deal with his Milan
counterpart, Vittorio Duina, on a flight to Rome. Capello would join the
rossoneri in exchange for Romeo Benetti, a holding midfielder and
fellow Italian international, plus 100 million lire in cash (around
£40,000 at the time). It was a huge story. Imagine Chelsea swapping John
Terry for Rio Ferdinand plus cash and you get the picture. The pair had
done well together for Italy, with Benetti acting as a hardman to
Capello's playmaking. And now, one was traded for the other. Capello, of
course, knew why Juve were letting him go. And he was disappointed. But
he had learned never to look back, only forward. Milan were ready to
build a side around him. They were an equally big club. He would prove
the critics wrong, not that he cared about what they said or wrote.
Fifteen years after Gipo Viani had sat in his father's kitchen,
desperately trying to persuade him to join Milan, Fabio Capello would
finally become a rossonero.
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