Robert Taylor

My book “Tears for England” is officially published today. A proud moment. Thanks ⁦@PitchPublishing⁩.

In defence of Capello. Yesterday, I provoked some controversy by defending Sven. Now for someone more controversial still: Fabio Capello. If there's one part of my book "Tears for England" that got people riled, it's my largely positive comments about Fab, and the fact that I rate him number three, after Southgate and Eriksson, in my league table of England managers in my lifteime (from Ron Greenwood through to Gareth). Of course, I understand the reasons why people think he was a flop. The 2010 World Cup was a massive disappointment. All three group matches were pretty poor, particularly Algeria. Then we got stuffed by the Germans in the second round. But here are some points in his favour: -- Before Tuchel, who's yet to be tested in a tournament, Capello has the highest win ratio of all England managers, at 67%. (I'm excluding, of course, Sam A's one game in charge.) -- He won nine out of ten qualifying matches for 2010, whereas McLaren, his immediate predecessor, failed to qualify for the 2008 Euros, coming third behind Russia and Croatia -- His England comfortably finished top in qualifying for the 2012 Euros, though he was forced to resign before the Finals -- The knockout match against the Germans was disfigured by an absurd error by the officials just before half time. If Lampard's goal, a foot over the line, had been given, it would have been 2:2 going into the second half. Who knows how if might have turned out? -- Frankly, that error by the officials was one of the worst in World Cup history, right up there with the ludicrous hand of god nonsense in '86. Capello and England were cheated. As ever, judging an England manager is a case of relativity. I hope we can all agree that Capello was better by far than McLaren, Taylor and Keegan. Hodgson will never live down Iceland. Greenwood's tournament record is nothing to write home about. Robson, lovely guy though he was, flopped at two Euros in a row. Hoddle also went out in the second round of the World Cup and was struggling in qualifying for Euro 2000 when he resigned. And Venables? He's the only one who I believe could challenge Fabio for third place in my league table. But, remember, Tel didn't have to go through qualifying for Euro 96, and all his competitive matches were at Wembley. Even then, just like Fab, he couldn't see off the Germans. So at the risk of attracting abuse, I stand by my assessment of Capello as the third best England manager since 1978. @PitchPublishing @SoccerBooksLtd @80s90sfootball @TheSixtySixHQ @DPJHodges @stefanstern bbc.co.uk/sport/football…

Crikey.

Well said, Barry Davies. Yes, he was a cheat.

@JessMUFCx Yes

England best team?

Yes, that’s the team I’d pick too. @PitchPublishing @realpaulparker2 @TheSixtySixHQ

@Nairobifatlover @RobinTilbrook How is he British if he's Irish?

@TaylorColumnist @RobinTilbrook How is he English if he's Irish?

See Andy Burnham denying that he is English and wants the break-up of England!

@90sFootballUK1 Shearer

And the first player you think of is….

In almost any other household, if a man suddenly parked a brand new £125,000 motorhome in the driveway - and acquired other new vehicles - his wife would ask where on earth he got the money from.

@simon5233 True

@TaylorColumnist Agree about Sven but note people often overlook it was much more difficult to qualify for the Euros before 1996 (only 7 teams excl host) and WC before 1982.

bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3c… In defence of Sven. What is it about Sven's England reign, two decades on, that is still so controversial? Why do people, even now, argue so much about whether he under-achieved, when similar debates about, say, Bobby Robson or Glenn Hoddle, have faded away? Simple. He was our first foreign coach. Having a foreigner as coach (think Tuchel) is still pretty controversial now, but back in 2000 it was explosive. He always had to over-achieve to satisfy the fans. So, did he succeed or not? In my book "Tears for England", I rate him as England's second-best manager in my football-watching lifetime, starting with Greenwood and ending with Southgate (it's too early to judge Tuchel). Yes, he lost in three successive quarter-finals, all of which were devastating. But he qualified for every tournament he was in charge for (which was beyond Robson, Taylor and McLaren); got to the quarters in each (beyond Hoddle, Capello and Hodgson); and in two of them was only beaten on penalties. Judging England managers is a case of relativity. I'd agree that Sven could have and should have, done better with the players available to him. But he was far better than his immediate predecessor Keegan, and miles better than his immediate successor, McLaren. He also dealt with all the muck thrown at him by the media with grace and dignity. Overall, compared with others, I'd say Sven was a good thing. @PitchPublishing @TheSixtySixHQ @80s90sfootball @SoccerBooksLtd

@paulhtfp @SJarman59127 Yes. Tactics weren’t his problem.

@TaylorColumnist @SJarman59127 Hoddle would have weaned us off 442 had he kept the England job.

@SJarman59127 Mistake. In hindsight.

@TaylorColumnist Do you think it was a mistake Rashford and Sancho were brought on very late largely for penalties or was it just a case of these things being decided by fine margins?

@SJarman59127 @paulhtfp Bang on.

@paulhtfp @TaylorColumnist That’s why Sven’s sometimes looks oddly dated in hindsight. Even though he was “continental,” he largely stuck with 4-4-2 when elite football was moving toward overloads in midfield, double pivots, and lone-strikers. England often got outnumbered centrally against top sides

@paulhtfp @SJarman59127 Yes, he could and should have done that. He was wedded to 4:4:2 sadly

@SJarman59127 @TaylorColumnist Ironically had Sven played a Tuchel style 4231 he might have had more success accommodating his midfield talents in the team. Gerrard would have been the 6, Scholes the 8 and Lampard the 10, with Beckam and Joe Cole as the wide attackers either side of Owen/Rooney.

@SJarman59127 As a manager. McLaren inherited a great squad and didn’t even qualify. Venables and Hoddle could both have gone further on another day. But for me the Euros final in 2021 was the one we should have won. 2:1 up in the shootout, in front of our own fans, but still lost.

@TaylorColumnist Who do you feel the greatest underachiever/missed opportunity is?

@SJarman59127 Agreed

@TaylorColumnist Yes, England looked emotionally fragile before Sven arrived; he stabilised the environment and made the team feel like a serious international side again.

@CheetsS18 Indeed!

@TaylorColumnist Sven was almost damned by the 5-1 in Germany as it set expectations sky high.

@SJarman59127 Yes, I can't argue with that. The trouble is that all other managers in my lifetime, except Southgate, were worse!

@TaylorColumnist Sven was supposed to herald a new tactical dawn for England after Keegan, who was seen as tactically weak. Instead, Eriksson defaulted to a rigid 4-4-2, told the league’s best ball-playing centre-half not to carry the ball out from defence, and even stuck Scholes out on the wing.

Westminster Voting Intention: RFM: 29% (+3) LAB: 21% (+1) CON: 19% (-1) LDM: 12% (-1) GRN: 12% (-3) Via @JLPartnersPolls, 14-21 May. Changes w/ 29-30 Apr.

NEW: GB voting intention in @thesun Reform see a post-locals bounce to an eight-point lead, Greens slip down REF 29 (+3) LAB 21 (+1) CON 19 (-1) LDEM 12 (-1) GRN 12 (-3) 14th-21st May, 1,700 GB adults. Change on 29th-30th April