England manager Fabio Capello has blamed the amount of money paid to his stars for contributing to a series of off-field controversies.  Capello is concerned at the recent scandals which are threatening to undermine England’s World Cup hopes.

“They are young boys, who are rich boys. This is the problem,” he said.

“It is not only here. In Italy, in Germany, in Spain, in every country where football is so important it is the same problem.”

The England manager, whose side take on Egypt on Wednesday night, has had to deal with a series of scandals over the last few weeks. Capello stripped Chelsea’s John Terry of the England captaincy following allegations of an affair with the ex-girlfriend of former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.

England left-back Ashley Cole also hit the headlines last month over his separation from wife Cheryl. And Capello has warned his players to keep control of their personal lives so that there are no distractions ahead of the World Cup.

“The private life is a big problem for some players, but also brings big problems for the clubs and for me,” he added.

“Players have to be an example to the children, for all the fans.

“For that reason, they have to stay careful at all times and sacrifice something in their lives.

“It will be really important in this last period to be careful in their own lives. I ask them to take no chances.”

Capello spoke to his England squad on Monday, saying: “I told the players we have to recreate the spirit of the group and train really focused.

“I want to speak about the performance. I want to speak about the style we played, only about what really happened during the game. Not outside the pitch.”

Capello has already stated that the wives and girlfriends of England players, or ‘WAGs’, who overshadowed Sven-Goran Eriksson’s spell in charge of England during the World Cup campaign in Germany 2006, will have a restricted role in this summer’s tournament.

And Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard, who will lead England for the Egypt match, says his wife Alex will not be in South Africa “unless we get to the semis or the final”.

“I don’t know if having the WAGs there affected our performance last time,” he said. “But my wife won’t be there.

“She’s got two kids who’ll be in school and it’s a long way away. If we get to the semis, she deserves to come and see me.”

source, image via daylife