Sven-Goran Eriksson on Monday Night Football: England, Wayne Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson and more
England's first foreign manager also discusses the Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard dilemma and penalty shootout heartache
Tuesday 10 March 2020 11:59, UK
Sven-Goran Eriksson shared insights from his reign as England manager on Monday Night Football, discussing his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson among several topics from his time in charge.
England's first foreign boss also spoke about his one major regret from his five-year tenure, his decision to take Theo Walcott to the 2006 World Cup and playing Paul Scholes on the left of midfield.
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Read on for some of the highlights from Sven's MNF appearance...
Sven on his start with England...
"It was good to beat Spain in the first game. Then it slowly built up to the Germany game and of course if you beat them away, life is much easier! After that game, I didn't hear anything about a foreigner as the England manager, at least for a while.
"Nobody thought we'd beat Germany away 5-1. It was a night when everything went well for England, and everything went badly for Germany. Just before half-time, they had a chance to score and they didn't. A minute later, Steven Gerrard scored to make it 2-1. The game changed in that moment."
Sven on England at major tournaments...
"In 2002, I didn't think we'd win it [the World Cup]. I didn't think we were ready for that. In 2004, I thought we should've reached the final of the European Championships. By 2006, I was sure we would win the World Cup.
"If you look at all three tournaments, when you get Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney injured, Rooney sent off and things like that, we didn't really have someone on the bench who could come in and do that job. That was unlucky.
"I'd guess the team at Euro 2004 was my best team. Rio Ferdinand (who was suspended) would perhaps have come into the team and then it's very close to the best we could perform."
Sven on his stance to the players' strike against Ferdinand's ban...
"It was ahead of the Turkey game, a qualifier and a very important game. The FA told me that Rio could not be involved in this game, and I protested. Why not? Because he's not been judged. They told me he had been judged because he didn't go to the drugs test.
"I had to give up. Then Sir Alex Ferguson came into the picture and he was extremely angry towards me. I told him I couldn't do anything. He said that I had to play Rio, and I told him it was impossible. The FA never made a decision on my behalf - not even close to it - but on this case, they said he could absolutely not play.
"Then, Sir Alex told me that the rest of the United players in the squad would go on strike. I arranged a meeting between the FA and the players because it was over my head. I tried really to get Rio, but I couldn't."
Sven on Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes...
"Lampard and Gerrard, they could play together."
"It was never a problem. At that time, it was the best four midfielders that we had [David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Scholes].
"I couldn't at the time put any of them on the bench. I picked because I was convinced that these four were the best. I was always convinced that Gerrard and Lampard could play together.
"When Scholes opted to retire, I asked him to think about it for one month during the holidays. That had nothing to do with formation. I think he didn't want to be away from his family that long a time. Paul was a great player, but we never saw his best in a big tournament."
Sven on Gary Neville...
"He always had an opinion about everything, before training and after training. One day we were leaving training, he was complaining about something when David Beckham came over. Beckham told me not to listen to him and said: "Boss, he is born like this and will die like this."
"But he is a good man and he was a fantastic right-back."
Sven on England's areas of weakness...
"England has always been famous for great goalkeepers, before I came. We had good goalkeepers, but we didn't have the big world-class 'keeper, maybe. That was one thing. Up front, we had Owen and Rooney, but after that, we didn't have top class options. Not on that level to win the World Cup."
Sven on taking injured players to major tournaments...
"If you give me a very good alternative [to David Beckham in 2002 or Wayne Rooney in 2006] then I might have made a different decision.
"But when you go to a big tournament, as with Rooney in 2006, if he has a small chance to play, you had to take him. It was the same with Beckham. You cannot keep them out. We had a lot of good footballers, but you don't have a second Rooney."
Sven on selecting Theo Walcott for the 2006 World Cup...
"I'd not seen him play too much. We went to see him but not too much. We had talks with Arsene Wenger, of course, but if you don't have a clear option as the fourth striker, why not take someone who is young and talented for the future? The player picked as No 23 in the squad will not win the World Cup for you."
Sven on Wayne Rooney...
"He was maybe not the best [player I ever managed], but he was very high up. Remember, I only had Rooney with the national team and for the big tournaments he was unlucky. He was injured for the last one and sent off and injured in 2004 as well, so I didn't really see the best of Rooney.
"But you could see that this was a great player. I followed him and he's been criticised now and then, but he's the best goalscorer for England and Manchester United."
And Sven on Rooney's World Cup red...
"Yes, of course [it was a huge frustration]. I'm not one to think about the past too much, if we'd had done this then maybe we'd have won that. It happened, bad luck. I think it was really important for the press not to kill him because you needed Wayne Rooney."
Sven on club vs country battles...
"This was always a big problem. On Rooney, it was a big problem between Sir Alex and myself. He didn't want to release him, but it became a question for the doctors as well. The Manchester United doctor against the England doctor.
"In the end, the England doctor was a specialist on metatarsal injuries [Leif Sward] having operated on hundreds every year. We got insurance that he could play... maybe not the first game in Germany but he could play. We had the independent doctors there as well to check everything."
Sven on Sir Alex Ferguson...
"I hope he'd consider me as a friend still as I consider him as a friend and we had many dinners together.
"When you come to the point where you're taking something from United, whether it be for a friendly or a half-injured player, he became like a lion defending his club with everything he had. But I had to do things for England. I had to pick Rooney, whatever United said.
"Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were very easy, but Ferguson, not so much! But I strongly respect him for what he's done and I understood him."
Sven on penalty shootouts...
"In 2006 for sure, I'd have taken a mental coach for penalties. That was a big mistake. The biggest mistake I did, I think. We had many players in 2006 who'd been around for a long time.
"I thought they'd handle more or less everything. But we weren't especially good at penalties. The pressure at the time was very big that we should go to the final. When you stand there taking a penalty, you feel it."
Sven on whether the English press were unfair with him...
"No, I don't think so. The unfair thing is not the football press. The unfair thing is the rest of the press, which can't see the difference between your private life and your professional life. When that gets mixed up, one way or another, that's bad, very bad.
"In Italy they didn't care about your private life, but there they kill you if you lose two or three football games, which is fair because winning and losing football games and how well we play football, that's what I'm supposed to be judged on. That's, at least, what I hope to be judged on."
