Soccernet Comment:
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Eriksson: Could be free soon
(Photography/Allsport) |
[Written before the news that Eriksson had definitely taken the job...]
So it looks very much as though Sven Goran Eriksson will be the next manager - sorry, head coach - of the England national team. He is the right man for the job, if not necessarily at the right time or, currently, in the right place.
Football is a global game. Soccernet has regular readers from 175 countries around the world, something we are enormously proud of. And the world in which it is played is increasingly international.
Welcome to the 21st century, folks! Here in England we buy Swedish furniture, eat Italian food and drive German cars; our computers are powered by American technology, our TV's are built in the Far East, and the soap operas we watch on them come from Australia. The world wasn't like that when Sir Alf Ramsay and his men won the World Cup in 1966.
Football should and does lead the way in making this global village a closer and happier place. To hear thousands of Manchester United fans cheer a Frenchman at the height of a vitriolic press campaign against the European Community was to be cheered by the human spirit.
To hear thousands of Arsenal fans serenade Patrick Vieira because 'he comes from Se-ne-GAL, he plays for Ar-se-NAL' is to hear the world made smaller and better in a smiling instant. Thirty years ago the massed choirs would not have thought coming from Senegal a good thing.
As far as management goes, supporters of Arsenal (2nd in the Premiership), Liverpool (4th) and Chelsea (6th) can make quite a case for foreign managers. Remembering that the Scots are 'foreign' in this context just means pointing out that Sir Alex Ferguson has been quite successful, too.
In that context, having an England manager who comes from Sweden seems to be wholly desirable.
Moreover, the very fact that Eriksson has been linked with the position of England coach seems to have made that position desirable again. Who until now has actually come out and said they wanted the job?
Terry Venables' pronouncements about his availability increased in inverse proportion to the chances of his ever being offered the job.
Roy Hodgson has put himself in the frame though nobody else seems keen to appoint him. Is he really on that short-list of three? Have you actually seen his name linked by anyone in a position to know? Didn't think so. His FC Copenhagen side are currently third in the Danish Superligaen: no offence, but that's no great shakes.
Everyone else - from Arsene Wenger to Franz Beckenbauer to Johan Cruyff to Joe Royle (errr, who offered him the job?) - politely demurred. And who could blame them?
Like anybody else, Eriksson will face a catalogue of obstacles if he takes the job.
The English press is ruthless and really quite unpleasant in pursuing their quarry and the England manager is their biggest target. The team itself has some decent players, a couple of great ones, many more liabilities. The question of who to play on the left side of the team remains unanswered. There is a desperate need to restructure the coaching of players of all ages in England. All big problems.
Most crucially, the very future of the international game is up for grabs.
The Champions League, not to mention whatever trans-continental League eventually supercedes it, is designed to make national teams less exciting. Major clubs already question the rights of national associations to demand that players be released for international duty. The next step will be a point-blank refusal, and the way things look at the moment, the big clubs would most likely win the resulting stand-off.
Be afraid, be very afraid of a time when the glory that is the World Cup is long forgotten and the World Club Championship has taken its place.
By all accounts, Sven Goran Eriksson is strong enough and smart enough to overcome these obstacles and make the England team successful again. His experience of the game, his track-record as a winner, his proven ability to motivate and improve players, to deal with a high-pressure situation, to build for the future - all of this makes him the ideal candidate.
At the present time he is, we believe, the best man for the job.
That's not to say that the FA has gone about getting their man in the most appropriate way and, being the media, we reserve the right to change our minds about him if results start to go against him, but for now, Sven, you're welcome to England.
