Fabio Capello is sharing a laugh with Italy boss Luciano Spalletti in the Sardinian sun when Gianluigi Buffon appears.

The trio are relaxed, catching up like old friends over some hors d’oeuvres and champagne at the famed Cala di Volpe hotel. Buffon is talking about his dreams of becoming a manager and is eager to pick the brains of two men with more than 1,800 combined games as a coach.

Most questions, though, are being directed to Spalletti about the Euros; how is everything going? Are you looking forward to it? It’s a relaxed function – the Globe Soccer Awards, where Spalletti is a recipient of the Coach Career award – for a relaxed conversation.

Italy, other attendees at the awards ceremony, are playing with ‘house money’ they tell us. England are not.

‘Fear’ is a word Capello likes to use a lot when it comes to England. Not just an expectancy from fans and the media but a genuine trepidation at failing – again.

‘Take the Euros final,’ he says, ‘after 20 minutes England were playing really well but after those 20 minutes they started to play slow, and this was a huge mistake.

‘For Italy they could see it: it’s fear. If you are confident you play forward, you fight…’

Our chat with Capello came before the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and the defeat to Iceland, but it was that defeat to Iceland – and the trepidation that has since kicked in about England’s Euros prospects – that best prove his point.

‘When England arrive at a Euros, at a World Cup, they arrive tired [physically and mentally], always,’ he adds.

‘I don’t know if this time they will arrive tired… or with fear.

‘After so long without a victory [at a tournament], they lose confidence. There’s a lot of expectation.’

So, it is put to him, why does he, a former England manager, believe confidence can seep away so quickly at the first sign of adversity?

‘Maybe they are going on the pitch and are not sure what to do,’ the 77-year-old suggests, ‘and then you make mistakes. Sometimes we made incredible mistakes.’

Under Capello, England struggled badly in the one tournament he got to lead them out at – the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

A disastrous mistake by goalkeeper Rob Green led to a 1-1 draw against USA, while a 0-0 draw with Algeria followed. Only a 1-0 win over Slovenia saw them escape the group.

A 4-1 defeat in the last-16 to Germany – which could have been so much different had Frank Lampard’s strike, which had gone over the line, been given – was it for that campaign. 

Capello was heavily criticised for his authoritarian management style and despite navigating them through a qualification campaign he was gone before Euro 2012.

As is often the case in the days prior to a tournament, there is a hope among England fans that this current generation are different to those that have failed before them.

Capello believes Jude Bellingham is ‘from another planet’ and is high on plenty of others in Gareth Southgate’s ranks. But his reservations and concerns are the same now as they were in 2010.

‘Attack is one of the best [in the world] but I don’t know about the defenders, and the goalkeeper,’ he warns.

‘I think they have some problems because when they play at the top level [goalkeeper and defence] isn’t at the same level as other parts of the team.’

Capello has been a long-standing critic of Jordan Pickford but when pressed on what specifically bothers him about the Everton goalkeeper the Italian insists the issue between the sticks is one that has haunted England for years.

‘[Goalkeepers] are a problem always for England,’ he adds.

‘In my period, the period after me and now, it’s the same. I don’t remember one really good goalkeeper for England. England miss this.’

And with that, on his second attempt to do so, the interview is wrapped up and he strolls off and up to two hotel staff members pouring champagne for arriving guests.

Iceland planted a seed of doubt on Friday night and now it’s over to England to prove Capello right or wrong. Will fear take hold in Germany? We’ll soon find out.