Eriksson hails Elano

Former England manager hails Brazil star

Last updated: 14th November 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Eriksson hails Elano

Elano: Gifted

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Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson has compared Elano to Barcelona star Ronaldinho.

Brazil star Elano has been in impressive form in the Premier League since his £8m summer move from Shakhtar Donetsk, helping his side to third place in the Premier League.

And Eriksson feels that, like Ronaldinho, Elano has that something 'special' that makes all football fans want to see him play.

"If you're a footballer, if you're a fan, you want to see players like that," he said in the Daily Mirror.

"You don't have to be a Barcelona fan to like Ronaldinho. You want to see those who have something special and Elano is one of those.

"You can call him a playmaker. He's not a striker and he's not a midfielder - I think his best position is behind the strikers.

"He is very good at finding space, he can bring in players, he can shoot. He sees things very quickly - sometimes I wonder if he has got eyes in his back.

"It's a gift some players have and some will never have it."

Carling Cup dream

While City are just four points from the top of the table at the moment, Eriksson is refusing to get carried away with any title ambitions.

But he has set his sights on landing the Carling Cup to bring some long-awaited silverware to the club.

"The players have already confirmed they're a good team.

"How good we are, what position we'll have at Christmas and in May, I don't know. I hope we can go on like that.

"The Carling Cup is a big trophy; it's a ticket to Europe. We are a club that hasn't won anything for a long time, so we want to do well."