Indeed, one observer even suggested sacking Capello before the tournament begins, and appointing a new coach there and then.
The favourites would appear to be Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson, and deservedly so. Both were bemusingly left out of the four man shortlist for the job in 2006, which included Martin O’Neill and Alan Curbishley.
Hodgson has demonstrated his skill both home and abroad, leading Switzerland to third in the FIFA World Rankings and the World Cup in 1994. He proved a capable, intelligent manager who has travailed Europe and guided Fulham to the final of the Europa League. With his tactical expertise higher than your average English coach, he could be an ideal candidate.
But then there is Redknapp, who took West Ham to fifth in the Premier League during his time there, a superb achievement. Though favourable draws helped his Portsmouth side win the FA Cup, it was still an impressive achievement and he has guided Tottenham into the Champions League and all the way to the quarter finals.
But tactically he is a very different coach to Hodgson. He is less likely to go into detailed analysis of opponents or structured tactical plans, but his methods work in a very different way; taking talented players and giving them the freedom to make the most of their abilities. It has worked a treat at Tottenham, a club who had a previously England like propensity to flatter to deceive.
The answer to which is better suited to the post lies in a tricky tactical conundrum. The England players have failed under Fabio Capello, contrary to the common view, which is that Capello has been the failure. The Italian, who has achieved success in every competition at club level, guiding Juventus and Real Madrid among others to glory at home and abroad, is somehow culpable, rather than the players who failed under him, Sven Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren.
This is clearly ludicrous. The problem for Capello is trying to get the team to adhere to his tactical instructions. It is a familiar problem faced by some recent Liverpool coaches, who have struggled to get them to take in tactical instruction. It worked briefly under Rafa Benitez, but when they encountered a run of poor results, their faith in him wilted. The same happened under Hodgson, only without the good start. But Kenny Dalglish is a man with such respect at the club that the players dare not listen to him, and so they are now improving.
With England, the problem of the squad seems to be largely tactical. The players are technically capable, if not at the level of the Spaniards, French or Germans in this regard. But they seem to be incapable of adapting tactically, and that is an issue which leads the objective observer towards Redknapp, a man who is unlikely to give them too complicated a tactical versing. Hodgson on the other hand, may be a better manager than the Spurs coach, but his methods rely on techniques which are likely not to work with an England squad at the moment. For that, and that reason only, the Spurs manager should have the edge.
