England to miss Beckham's experience – Taylor

Taylor, currently in charge of Bradford City, made Beckham England captain while in caretaker charge of the national team in 2000.

Beckham's chances of appearing in a record fourth World Cup for an England player were shattered on Sunday night when he ruptured his Achilles tendon on AC Milan duty against Chievo.

The 34-year-old had a successful operation in Finland yesterday and is expected to make a full recovery.

"Following a scan, David Beckham's left Achilles was found to be ruptured," his spokesman said in a statement.

"Professor Sakari Orava performed a successful operation today, repairing the tendon completely.

"He is understandably upset but wants to thank everyone for their messages of support.

"He hopes to make a swift and full recovery."

However, consigned to three months on the sidelines at an absolute minimum and probably far longer, there are plenty now questioning whether Beckham's career is at an end.

Certainly Fabio Capello – who spoke with Beckham on Sunday night – might be looking to move on by the time the midfielder has recovered at some stage during the Euro 2012 qualifiers, leaving England's most iconic player marooned on 115 caps, in itself a record for a non-goalkeeper.

"I think the experience of David is what we will miss," said Taylor. If they're inexperienced, there are not many squads that win tournaments.

"It's experienced squads that go and win things, so that's where I think we'll miss David on and off the field.

"People really respect him in that squad. He'll have been watching James Milner, Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon, and I think David will pull them to one side and help in certain areas. I think a lot of players really do look up to him.

"I think he will be missed – greatly, unfortunately."

Taylor believes Beckham would have provided a valuable option from the bench, despite some critics suggesting England's squad will not be greatly weakened by his absence.

"I disagree with quite a few people today," Taylor said.

"To me, the option of David Beckham coming off the bench is a dangerous one as he showed for Milan the other day.

"He's a dangerous substitute. He'd have improved our squad."