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 always nice to be talked about in the echelons of being a captain but it's not the be-all and end-all.

"The captaincy sometimes takes the eye off what is the key factor for this team and that is not just one individual or two individuals.

"It is about us becoming an England team rather than a group of individuals who did not qualify for the last campaign."

The bottom line, however, is Capello will be respected because he can show the players his medals and trophies, the most recent of which came when he won the Spanish title with Real Madrid.

Ferdinand said: "When you look at his CV he's had success wherever he has been, coached some of the best players in the world and you want to suck up as much knowledge and information as you can.

"He's been there, seen it and done it and when someone's got that sort of a CV you have to take in what they're saying. There's not many people on the planet with a better CV than him at club football."

So can Capello end the hurt in England football which now stands at 42 years and counting?

"I don't know. I'm not Mystic Meg," Ferdinand said. "Who knows the future? But we're going to be trying our hardest, 100% every training session, every match to be a successful team.

"The new manager has a winning identity. His mentality is driven towards winning. We saw when he went to Madrid, a team which maybe didn't play ideal football but they were getting results.

"It's a results business and we want results. I don't want to finish my career not having at least been in a final with an opportunity to win something."

More news from SportingLife.com