Fabio Capello has warned his England successor Roy Hodgson that he will find it hard to create a "winning mentality" before Euro 2012.
Hodgson was appointed on a four-year contract on Tuesday, but must complete the season with his club West Brom before turning his attentions to England's campaign in Poland and Ukraine this summer.
The former Liverpool boss already has international experience, but Capello - who revealed he would like to manage in the Premier League - stressed that being a national team manager is not "a normal job".
Quoted in Friday's Times newspaper, Capello said: "As a club manager, you are a manager. As a national team manager, you are a selector.
"You cannot work with and get the best out of the players all of the time because some are injured, some are not in a top moment, some are unhappy with their club's position, some have a problem with their manager.
"It's not a normal job. It's difficult to create something. You can't do something in a short space of time.
"The idea is to create the team spirit and winning mentality in a really short time. This is very difficult. It will be hard.
"And the other thing is that you don't play a lot of games. In nearly every game, you are either in or out."
Capello hopes England perform well this summer to vindicate his work during qualifying.
"I've known Roy since he was coaching in Italy and I have met him often in these last few years," the Italian added. "I believe he is a very good and experienced manager. I wish him all the best for the future and Euro 2012.
"I'm happy with the job I did for England. I hope that England will be one of the best teams at the Euros and they can show my job was really good. If things go well as I hope, people will recognise that I did a good job."
As for his future, Capello admitted he was looking for one final job with a top European club.
"At the end of my career, it would be interesting to find a team with big motivation to arrive at the top," he added.
"England would be very interesting for me because I know very well the teams and the players, and everything would be less difficult. It would be easier for me in England.
"And my English is not so bad!"
Update:
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what do you think?
Stephen Bayley
I WISH HIM GOOD LUCK HES GOING TO NEED IT , BUT LETS FACE IT WE ARE NOT GOING TO WIN ANYTHING, 1966 SINCE WE WON WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU, THE PLAYERS NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THEMSELVES, EVERY TIME WE QUALIFY THE PAPERS ARE SAYING THIS IS IT WE ARE GOING TO WIN, ONLY 3 FOREIGN PLAYERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PLAY IN A TEAM THEN JUST MAYBE YOU WOULD SEE LESS THEATRICAL DIVING AND ROLLING ROUND FOR TEN MINUTES, AND WOULD GIVE YOUNG ENGLAND PLAYERS A CHANCE,
Martin Massey
Look at Norwich, Swansea, they play great football with average players, we need an english system that any player can come into not bogged down with dossiers, let them play and enjoy it we might reap the rewards.
Rob Shaw
7:34am on 4/5/2012
He want's england to do well so he can take credit?