Rio Ferdinand believes players must buy completely into the ruthless world of manager Fabio Capello if England are to be successful.The Manchester United central defender used the first day at work with England's new Italian ruler to pledge his full commitment.

And he cited Capello's dropping of David Beckham as an example of the hard decisions which proved the coach puts the team before the individual.

"Ask a lot of managers what they would have done and a lot of them might have done it differently, who knows," Ferdinand said.

"But the manager made a decision. The players are not there to pick anyone or have any reaction to who the manager picks. You should just be happy that you're in the squad.

"If we are to be successful then we have to live and die by his decisions.

"There's no time for sentiment. David's been in adverse situations before and I'm sure he'll fight to get back in the squad and win that 100th cap and a few more maybe.

"But as players we're not here to worry about anyone else's feelings."

As a player hopeful of being named Capello's first captain tomorrow for Wednesday's friendly against Switzerland, you might say Ferdinand would say all that.

But even so it was a stirring endorsement of the new manager, who took two training sessions on his first day with his new team, one in the morning and the other in the evening at Wembley.

That in itself was a departure from the routine England's players are accustomed to and they had better get used to a few more changes around the place.

Such as being required to arrive, eat and leave at the same time for breakfast. And being called by their surname alone.

Under Capello there will be none of the familiarity which saw Steve McClaren addressing players as 'JT,' Lamps' and 'Becks.'

Under Capello it is strictly 'Ferdinand', 'Owen', and 'Rooney'.

It is also "full-on" in training, according to Ferdinand, rather than the distant touchline presence of such as Sven-Goran Eriksson.

And Capello's English? "He got his points across well," said Ferdinand.

"I've been pleasantly surprised. He's talked to us as a team on and off the training ground in English and was very good.

"I've called him boss a couple of times. He's not come in and been the big hoo-ha or anything. He wants everyone to be in the same mind as himself.

"He's very observant and puts his point across when he needs to. He knows what he wants.

"Everybody's intrigued and excited to see what new ideas there are going to be and if they are any different from what we have been taught in the past. We enjoyed it."

So excited, in fact, that Ferdinand described it as like being the first day at a new school.

Secretly he is also hoping to be made head boy when Capello chooses tomorrow who wears the armband.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson last week insisted Ferdinand would make a good captain of the national side and with John Terry injured Capello has made it clear he intends naming his skipper on a match-to-match basis before choosing a permanent leader before the World Cup qualifiers begin in September.

Ferdinand, 29 and an England veteran with 64 caps, said: "Everyone playing football would say it was a fantastic honour to captain their country.

"But if anyone was asked if they would do the job I don't think you would get too many people saying 'No, it's not really for me'. It is the pinnacle of anyone's career.

"It is the stuff of dreams. But more importantly if we can get 11 captains out there on the pitch, people out there who are assertive and lead from the front, then we will have an opportunity to win things.

"It's

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