Sven Goran Erikkson

[jcdenton08]

Greece at home, world cup qualifying 2002 to ensure automatic qualification springs immediately to mind. Changing to a more attacking style in the final quarter earnt us qualification.

He did only lose four (correct me on this? France, N. Ireland, Brazil and Portugal) competitive matches in nearly six years.. and qualified top in every qualifying campaign.. does have one of the best all time England manager win/loss records, and improved the FIFA ranking by about 20 places (again, can't be arsed to check this, but think he took us to the top five within five years)

 

[Mendoza]

I met Capello on Wednesday morning, there is an air of great presence about him and he is scary.

You can see that he strikes fear into the players if they under perform, and that is probably helping us hit form, as they know their standards cant drop. Even in a freidnyl at home to Slovenia, Capello got angry and let the players know it.

Under Sven, he probably just kind of let things go if they were bad and was distracted by the WAGs walking around in his eyeline

Capello acts like a winner and it is rubbing off on the team.

 

[simmo]

Greece at home, world cup qualifying 2002 to ensure automatic qualification springs immediately to mind. Changing to a more attacking style in the final quarter earnt us qualification.

He did only lose four (correct me on this? France, N. Ireland, Brazil and Portugal) competitive matches in nearly six years.. and qualified top in every qualifying campaign.. does have one of the best all time England manager win/loss records, and improved the FIFA ranking by about 20 places (again, can't be arsed to check this, but think he took us to the top five within five years)

in the game v Greece he brought on Sheringham whom headed the first equaliser within about 5 seconds of coming on!

 

[jcdenton08]

in the game v Greece he brought on Sheringham whom headed the first equaliser within about 5 seconds of coming on!

That's the more exact answer I was looking for

 

[Easy 10]

That's the more exact answer I was looking for

And we then promptly went 2-1 down again a couple of minutes later, before Beckham rescued the whole thing with the last kick of the game to scrape a 2-2 at home to bloody Greece.

Yeah, GENIUS Eriksson.

 

[jcdenton08]

And we then promptly went 2-1 down again a couple of minutes later, before Beckham rescued the whole thing with the last kick of the game to scrape a 2-2 at home to bloody Greece.

Yeah, GENIUS Eriksson.

Future European champions Greece.. and that draw finished us top of the group, which meant automatic qualification..

 

[Simster]

And we then promptly went 2-1 down again a couple of minutes later, before Beckham rescued the whole thing with the last kick of the game to scrape a 2-2 at home to bloody Greece.

Yeah, GENIUS Eriksson.

So what you're saying is that after his tactical change, we scored TWO goals and they scored ONE.

Sorry, what is your point?

 

[Easy 10]

Future European champions Greece.. and that draw finished us top of the group, which meant automatic qualification..

And as usual with Eriksson, the result that day papered over the gaping cracks of yet another utterly RANCID performance under his stewardship. Performances and weaknesses which were never addressed, but were carried through to the World Cup, and then predictably and brutally exposed by the very first half decent team we met. As was always the case.

 

[keaton]

And we then promptly went 2-1 down again a couple of minutes later, before Beckham rescued the whole thing with the last kick of the game to scrape a 2-2 at home to bloody Greece.

Yeah, GENIUS Eriksson.

Never let facts get in the way of your opinions

 

[keaton]

And as usual with Eriksson, the result that day papered over the gaping cracks of yet another utterly RANCID performance under his stewardship. Performances and weaknesses which were never addressed, but were carried through to the World Cup, and then predictably and brutally exposed by the very first half decent team we met. As was always the case.

This whole switching points when people's arguments are disproved is really catching on

 

[Easy 10]

So what you're saying is that after his tactical change, we scored TWO goals and they scored ONE.

Sorry, what is your point?

Beckham dug us out of that hole, not Eriksson. He played like a man possessed that afternoon and DRAGGED that team into the World Cup. Erikssons flawed team had absolutely STANK the place out all afternoon, and continued to do so after the changes, so lets not seriously pretend it wasn't Beckham who was eventually the difference, cos without his genius free kick in the dying seconds, we were condemned to a miserable 1-2 home defeat to the greeks. Hows THAT for Erikssons bloody tactics.

Tactics my arse. We got damn LUCKY that day (it shouldn't even have been a free kick !)

 

[jcdenton08]

And as usual with Eriksson, the result that day papered over the gaping cracks of yet another utterly RANCID performance under his stewardship. Performances and weaknesses which were never addressed, but were carried through to the World Cup, and then predictably and brutally exposed by the very first half decent team we met. As was always the case.

Sorry fella, the stats will disagree with you. We struggled to even qualify for competitions pre and post-Eriksson, let alone reach the latter stages. As said before, Eriksson has one of the best all time England records as manager.

 

[Willow]

Ahhh, this is the theory that to be a great manager you have to be up and down the touchline, gesticulating and generally going mental. Somehow I think there is more to it than that.

 

[Easy 10]

Sorry fella, the stats will disagree with you. We struggled to even qualify for competitions pre and post-Eriksson, let alone reach the latter stages. As said before, Eriksson has one of the best all time England records as manager.

He also had one of the best collection of players to choose from.
Yes, he generally made us difficult to beat against the average also-rans you routinely come up against in qualifying, and was clearly more astute than Keegan (well, who isn't). But in terms of developing that squad of players into cogent team that could actually compete with the best, Eriksson failed miserably. He was weak, over-indulgent and unresponsive when changes were needed.

We had a core group of players who grossly under-achieved under his leadership. Stumbling through to quarter-finals was the least we should have expected.

 

[drew]

England are and have been for a long time in and around the eight best teams in the world. At what stage have we been knocked out of the last two world cups? It is simple, that is how good we are. Ericsson, Capello, whoever, last eight is where we belong.

I am pretty sure I am not alone in thinking that tactically Sven was excellent with the players he had available to him. I think the people detracting from the job Sven did are confusing his man-management skills with getting the most out of the players he had available to him. The Germany win was just three points in a qualifying game and no more important than a win against Macedonia, so I don't accept this as an argument of his brilliance. His ability was proven by qualifying for every tournament while he was manager, and doing reasonably well in each finals.

That team, and the squad of players he had would've had no business winning a major tournament, without a healthy dose of good luck, which we certainly didn't get. Would Capello have beaten that Brazil side? I personally think not. Don't forget, our team has grown and developed hugely since then, domestically and with international experience.

HOWEVER, Sven brought about his own downfall as manager by the type of person he is. His man-management, as I said before was appalling and he didn't fully appreciate when to put the boot in. Sure, there's a time and place - it's more about respect ala Capello, than shouting a lot and "battling" ala Graham Taylor. If your own players see you as a weak man, and always thinking about your next lay rather than winning competitions, it's pretty hard to convince them you're 100% on the ball.

I agree with some of your points but certainly not the fact that beating Germany on their own turf in such humiliating fashion is exactly the same as beating Macedonia. There may only be the same 3 points but the kudos of the Germany result and the lift if gave to the team cannot be understated. As for the stage of the world cup at which you exit being a mark of your status, this is again incorrect. We got knocked out by Brazil, the winners. If you accept they would have always beaten us then it is a question of luck at which stage you meet them. We could equally have lost in the final if we had been in the other half of the draw (I seem to recall Germany had a pretty easy route to the final).

Finally, Sven card was marked by sections of the media who resented a foreign coach and that, coupled with his personal life, which he is entitled to, brought about his downfall. The press have a lot to answer for.

 

[Easy 10]

Ahhh, this is the theory that to be a great manager you have to be up and down the touchline, gesticulating and generally going mental. Somehow I think there is more to it than that.

Obviously. And quite there's clearly a hell of a lot more to Capello than that.
But Eriksson sitting inertly on the bench doing nothing whilst all in front of him collapsed is one of the enduring memories of his time in charge.

I'm reminded of a quote in Robbie Fowlers autobiography, when he was in the dressing room as a sub at half time during the Brazil World Cup quarter final. McLaren, not Eriksson, did the team talk.

"We needed Winston Churchill, but what we got was Iain Duncan Smith".

 

[jcdenton08]

Obviously. And quite there's clearly a hell of a lot more to Capello than that.
But Eriksson sitting inertly on the bench doing nothing whilst all in front of him collapsed is one of the enduring memories of his time in charge.

I'm reminded of a quote in Robbie Fowlers autobiography, when he was in the dressing room as a sub at half time during the Brazil World Cup quarter final. McLaren, not Eriksson, did the team talk.

"We needed Winston Churchill, but what we got was Iain Duncan Smith".

It was Gareth Southgate, not Robbie Fowler.

Nobody is (or, at least, should be) comparing Capello and Sven Goran Eriksson. To date, there isn't a lot to compare. Two different styles, same result. Easy automatic qualification through to the finals.

 

[simmo]

Beckham dug us out of that hole, not Eriksson. He played like a man possessed that afternoon and DRAGGED that team into the World Cup. Erikssons flawed team had absolutely STANK the place out all afternoon, and continued to do so after the changes, so lets not seriously pretend it wasn't Beckham who was eventually the difference, cos without his genius free kick in the dying seconds, we were condemned to a miserable 1-2 home defeat to the greeks. Hows THAT for Erikssons bloody tactics.

Tactics my arse. We got damn LUCKY that day (it shouldn't even have been a free kick !)

Yeah, we were LUCKY that day.

But Eriksson England were damn UNLUCKY the day that the ref disallowed a perfectly good goal in the last minute of the quarter final of Euro 2004 because it was against home side Portugal.

He was also damn UNLUCKY in WC 2002 to get a group draw Argentina, Sweden, Nigeria, 2nd Round Denmark and then Brazil as our route. While Germany got a route through to the final of group Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Cameroon, 2nd Round Paraguay, quarters USA, semi South Korea.

 

[Easy 10]

It was Gareth Southgate, not Robbie Fowler.

Nobody is (or, at least, should be) comparing Capello and Sven Goran Eriksson. To date, there isn't a lot to compare. Two different styles, same result. Easy automatic qualification through to the finals.

Yes, Southgate sorry (I read loads of em !).

Of course Capello has achieved no more than Eriksson so far, and perhaps he is still in his extended honeymoon period. And to be honest, although I wasn't unhappy at him being appointed, I was initially concerned at the language barrier, I thought that could turn out to be a real stumbling block.

But happily those fears have been allayed. I think the single biggest aspect of Capello so far is the discipline he has instilled in the squad, and the way the players have responded to that. Its something we never had with Sven or Ginger, and it seems to be making a massive difference so far.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Is it 'cause he shagged Ulrika, Easy ?