Quote Originally Posted by J R Hartley View Post
I think Bobby Robsons version of a sweeper system and 5 at the back was a bit more negative and defensively minded than Hoddles mate.

Walker was a terrific defender but he was no libero.

Aside from the kamikaze game against a very ill disciplined Cameroon England scored very few goals in Italia 90.

Bobby Robson was the original Southgate. Nice man, negative manager and should have achieved more with the players at his disposal.

If Venables has been in charge of that 1990 side they would have won it.
You're being a lot unfair on Bobby Robson. His Ipswich team were a good watch and he took a provincial club to European honours. He took Ronaldo to PSV and won the league in Netherlands, then Portugal with Porto. Won a couple of cups with Barcelona. I think he got lucky in Italia 90 but a fit Bryan Robson alongside Gascoigne would've been interesting.

As England manager, I think Hoddle had his most consistent playing period under Robson which included playing in Mexico 86.