Sven - next Madrid manager?

[Easy 10]

Fair play for using Rooney ? He was hardly a "find" was he ? His Premiership performances in a mediocre team catapulted him to stardom, I don't think Eriksson can be hailed as some kind of genius for throwing him into the England team. My mum would have selected him.

As for the injuries - ALL teams have to cope with this, but Erikssons way of trying to cope is to select half-fit players and hope for the best, instead of actively seeking solutions (for example in friendlies...how about that for a revolutionary idea). How can you find the true depth of your squad by giving out 45 minute caps every few months ?

You can point to the disallowed goal I suppose, but nobody can dispute the fact that we were getting utterly battered for long, long periods and were fortunate to still be on level terms by that stage. Its the manner of the performances that were more worrying, not so much the scoreline.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Its the manner of the performances that were more worrying, not so much the scoreline.

So if we had gone on playing the same way, kept Portugal out (not even talking about the Fisk goal) and then beaten the Greeks in the final by the odd goal you would still be dismayed by the performances?

The Rooney line was a bit of a wind to be honest but there you go.

We obviously differ, I have a bit of respect for Eriksson because I think he's done a decent job and think people will moan at him about anything and everything. You clearly hate the guys tactics and find it painful watching England nowadays which I think is the thing that annoys you most because his track record as manager ain't bad at all is it??

 

[Easy 10]

So if we had gone on playing the same way, kept Portugal out (not even talking about the Fisk goal) and then beaten the Greeks in the final by the odd goal you would still be dismayed by the performances?

Had we got the results, it would have papered over the cracks. Obviously I'd have been delirious at winning the thing, and that tends to make you forget the putrid performances on the way. Yes, I WAS dismayed at the performance in the Portugal game. We got an early goal, and then died on our arses. We could have muddled through and we were unlucky with that disallowed goal, but you can't tell me that overall Portugal didn't deserve to go through - they ran us absolutely ragged. As did Brazil. As did Argentina (when we somehow clung on to that 1-0 win after taking another battering from a poor Argentinian side).

We obviously differ, I have a bit of respect for Eriksson because I think he's done a decent job and think people will moan at him about anything and everything. You clearly hate the guys tactics and find it painful watching England nowadays which I think is the thing that annoys you most because his track record as manager ain't bad at all is it??

No, his track record isn't bad at all. But when it comes to the crunch in these tournaments, we let ourselves down badly. BADLY. All of Erikssons flaws, fears and limitations get exposed by quality opposition at the top level. You could say its the players, but I just don't see enough from Eriksson to address this weakness. When things get tough, at the most crucial moments, Eriksson just goes missing.

I'm not saying he's a rubbish England manager - we've had far worse. But if this squad of players had the right man managing them, we would achieve much, much more.

 

[CHAPPERS]

I'm not saying he's a rubbish England manager - we've had far worse. But if this squad of players had the right man managing them, we would achieve much, much more.

So, who would EASY like to see managing England??

 

[Easy 10]

So, who would EASY like to see managing England??

A pragmatic man who commands respect, doesn't suffer fools, doesn't indulge favourites, participates from the touchline, shows tactical nouse...

The dream ticket would be Arsene. But we'll never get him.

I'm coming round to the idea of Allardyce. A man who seems to be able to galvanise average players and the odd star into an effective team unit. I have a lot of respect for what he's achieved at Bolton. But he'd probably be too "abrasive" for the FA.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Innit.

Wenger would be the boy for England, that's the man who would deserve 4 million a year.

At this moment in time, if Eriksson got the sack tomorrow, I'd hope that the FA would seriously consider David O'Leary. Somebody with a no bollocks way of looking at football who takes defeat to heart and creates solid teams.

 

[Brovion]

All good points. I don't think that Sven gets enough credit for Rooney. When he was first in the England squad it was dismissed by an Express journalist as a 'publicity stunt'. Others said he only picks younger players because he can 'manipulate' them. Other managers wouldn't have picked him at all! Tony Adams was banging on about how Rooney shouldn't be in the starting line-up in Euro 2004, even after he'd set the tournament on fire? Don't forget some would like Adams as England manager because he was 'great England player', i.e. loads of committment but little skill. I'm being unfair on Adams because I'm sure other genuine England managers wouldn't have picked him, Hoddle for one. Remember Hoddle and his 'Owen is not a natural goalscorer' comment?

Still, we've done this subject to death. The pain of Saturday is wearing off and I'm reading to start talking about the Albion again.