Sven-Goran Eriksson has pleaded with England’s fans to judge him on results — not on what they read in the newspapers.
Eriksson may have finally ended speculation about a potential move to Chelsea by committing himself unequivocally to the England cause up to and including the 2006 World Cup.
But that has not spared him some scathing coverage in sections of the English media, where his willingness to be courted by Chelsea’s billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, has been castigated as an unpardonable act of infidelity.
Eriksson, speaking for the first time since he signed his new contract at the weekend, appeared genuinely surprised by the hostility of the reaction to his admission that he had been prepared to ”listen” to what Chelsea had to offer.
But he said he was confident England’s fans would continue to back him as long as his team continues to be successful on the pitch.
”It is always very important to have good relations with everyone in football, especially the players and the fans,” he said ahead of Wednesday’s friendly against his native Sweden, England’s last match before Eriksson names his Euro 2004 squad.
”I hope nothing has changed. We’ll see. The best in football has always been to win games, because if you don’t win games, whatever you do, you will be criticised.
”The answer to that question you can have in the beginning of July [after Euro 2004] because everything depends on what we do.”
Eriksson was effectively bounced into signing his new deal with England at the weekend after he was photographed at the house of Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon last week.
The London club had identified Eriksson as their first choice to succeed Claudio Ranieri, who is expected to be sacked in the summer.
Although the Swede ultimately made up his mind to stick with England — a decision eased by a £1-million a year pay rise — the reaction to his conduct has been largely hostile, a situation he claims not to understand fully.
”I hope this is the last time I have to make a comment about this,” Eriksson said.
”I, as a professional coach, don’t think I have done anything wrong. If someone thinks I have, I can’t do anything about that. I don’t want to talk about it any more. It’s history for me.”
Eriksson’s comments came on the eve of a friendly against Sweden that will be his last chance to assess some of the fringe players before he names his squad on May 17.
With six of his first-choice starting line-up missing, including skipper David Beckham, the match will see Steven Gerrard captain his country for the first time.
Eriksson said he had been impressed with the way the Liverpool midfielder had developed as both a player and as a man in the last year, which has seen the 23-year-old take over as club captain and become a father for the first time.
”He’s more mature, calmer so I think he deserves to be the captain. He has been practising a lot with Liverpool this season.”
That was a view Gerrard was happy to back.
”I’ve tried to calm down. I’ve not been booked all season. With experience I’ve learned to control my aggression and channel it in the right way.
”I’ve tried to be a little more sensible about certain challenges and not go in for the stupid ones where you have no chance of getting the ball. But it is difficult being a midfielder and somebody who likes to put tackles in. You can’t take tackling out of my game.”
Gerrard predictably described his promotion in terms of a dream nurtured since boyhood, although he appeared more genuinely enthused about the prospect of playing Wednesday’s match in his favoured central midfield role, rather than tucked in as the left-hand edge of Eriksson’s diamond-shaped midfield.
”I don’t know what the manager’s plans are for this summer but hopefully I can take the chance to impress him tomorrow in the centre,” Gerrard said.
Among the new players aiming to impress Eriksson on Wednesday will be Celtic’s Alan Thompson. With few places realistically available on the plane to Portugal, the 30-year-old knows this could be virtually his first and last chance to forge an international career — an assessment that Eriksson tacitly endorsed.
”I thought it was fair to give him a chance,” the manager said of a player who does not possess real pace, a quality Eriksson prizes greatly.
”Who doesn’t like pace?” he said. ”It is true, he is not the quickest but on the other hand he has got a very good left foot, and left-footers, we don’t have so many.” — Sapa-AFP