Lunch on the edge of the Black Forest with Sven-Göran Eriksson finds the England coach in more expansive mood than the bürgermeister’s waistband. The proximity of the World Cup has started to quicken the pulse of even this most stolid of Swedes, and touring England’s tournament base in midweek he spoke eagerly of the feast that lies ahead. Eriksson is confident about the outcome in Germany come the summer, the belief in the squad at his disposal buttressed by their burgeoning talent.
He sees Wayne Rooney — a player he believes can be just as good as his world No1 Ronaldinho — as the ace in his pack and Joe Cole as the joker of whom almost anything is possible. Invited to choose the Premiership’s footballer of the year, he plumps for Thierry Henry, but adds that Cole runs him close.
Now that the end of his English sojourn is near, the man belatedly gives the impression that he is actually enjoying himself and is determined to smell the roses, as well as the tabloid manure, along the way. Seated amid the Teutonic splendour outside Baden-Baden that is to be England’s headquarters, Eriksson speaks of “perfect facilities”. The one minor concern is a training pitch that makes Stamford Bridge look like the Wembley of yesteryear, but no expense is to be spared bringing it up to scratch.
While the man from The Sun measured the hotel beds to confirm that if Peter Crouch gets cold feet, it will only be in the metaphorical sense, Eriksson was measuring a full-strength England squad against the rest and pronouncing it head and shoulders above most. Heady stuff. Has he succumbed to World Cup fever? Smiling at the suggestion, he said: “The tournament is close now, but the feeling you are talking about will only come when I bring the team here in June.”
It is not unrealistic, he acknowledges, to expect England to fare better than at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, when they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage. “We are stronger, more experienced and a better team.”
True, but is he a better coach than the rabbit trapped in the headlights who was found wanting in Japan and again in Portugal nearly two years ago? Nodding, he said: “I have more experience of international football than I had then. Also, I know my players better.”
His view of England’s prospects has not changed since the qualifying process began. “I have been saying for a long time that we’re one of four or five, maybe six, teams capable of winning this World Cup. A lot depends on how lucky we are with injuries, but that’s the same for every country.”
Eriksson is optimistic that three of his casualties — Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole and Michael Owen — will recover in time, less so in the case of Kieron Dyer, of whom he said: “Dyer has hardly played this season, so I don’t know about him. I risked him at the last World Cup, and David Beckham too. I don’t think you can have hard and fast rules about these things; you have to assess it case by case.
“For example, what would we do if Rooney had a small problem?” Answering his rhetorical question with another, Eriksson said: “I would take him, for sure — what alternative is there?” Insisting that pragmatism has to be the order of the day, he added: “If we have a centre-half who might not be ready, we can take another one instead, but where would I get another Rooney?” It is a potential quandary that is causing him to think and think again about whether to accommodate four or five strikers in his 23. “I haven’t decided yet,” he admitted. “There’s no need to make my mind up now. Let’s see who is fit and available (and presumably in form) when I come to pick the squad.”
That day will be a week or two earlier than he would have liked, now that Fifa has rejected appeals for the selection deadline to be put back from May 15. Worried by the gap between then and their first match at the tournament against Paraguay on June 10, England are in the process of arranging a B international at home to Belarus on May 25. Eriksson explained: “For most of our players, the season finishes on May 6 and that means we could go into the World Cup with some who haven’t played one minute of football for more than a month.
“I’m not talking about the first XI (who have friendlies against Hungary and Jamaica on May 30 and June 3) but the reserves. It’s for them that we’re going to play the B game, somewhere near our pre- departure base, near Watford.”
So much for logistics. When it comes down to specifics, Eriksson says he has identified 20 of the 23 players who will be on the plane, fitness permitting, when the squad leaves for Germany on June 5. It is his intention to have 26 on call until the last minute, and one of the three auxiliaries seems increasingly likely to be Stewart Downing, the winger who caught the eye when Middlesbrough eliminated Roma from the Uefa Cup in midweek.
There was a time when Downing, whose one cap came as a substitute against Holland last year, was seen as the answer to the Achilles’ heel that was the left flank, but that position has now been nailed down by Joe Cole. “Joe has solved that problem for me,” Eriksson confirmed. “He would have to be my England player of the year. I always believed in him because his talent is incredible, and today he’s a complete footballer. He knows when to do his tricks and when not to.
“Some players may be scared of failing when it comes to the big tournaments, but Joe thinks the opposite way. He is looking to have a great World Cup, and why not? He has been England’s most improved player over the last year.
“I can remember a situation with Claudio Ranieri, the manager at Chelsea, when Joe was on the bench all the time and very frustrated. One day he came to Soho Square and the reception staff told me, ‘Joe Cole is here, he says he wants to have a cup of tea with you’. He was very unhappy. He wasn’t playing for Chelsea and didn’t know what to do. I told him to work hard and not to think too much about what was happening. He lives for football, so it’s a big problem for him when he isn’t in the team.”
Jose Mourinho has instilled positional and defensive discipline in his wandering star. “Mourinho has done a great job with him,” Eriksson said. “I don’t know exactly what he did, but I suppose he told him, ‘Do as I want, or you’ll sit on the bench’.”
His lesson learnt, Cole has spent more minutes on the pitch than any other England outfield player these past 12 months. The subject of improvement brings up others for discussion. “Since I’ve been in the job, Frank Lampard and John Terry are our most improved players,” the coach said.
However, if Eriksson could naturalise and recruit one foreign star, who would it be? “The No1 player in the world today, Ronaldinho,” he replied instantly. “He’s incredible. He will end up like Pele, Maradona and Cruyff. I’m quite sure he will be remembered as one of the truly great footballers.”
What of our own budding genius, Rooney, could he scale such heights? “Yes, because he has got everything already. He can dribble, he can score goals with both feet, he’s a good header of the ball and he’s got pace and strength. He can also defend like a defender, and in that respect he’s better than Ronaldinho.”
From the sublime to the near-ridiculous. Is Peter Crouch the new Emile Heskey, praised for everything bar the one thing a centre-forward is there to do: score goals? “Crouch will always contribute more assists than goals, and in that way he’s very important,” Eriksson said. “Maybe he won’t score a lot of goals, but I have other players who can do that.”
Eriksson added: “If we have all our players fit, I won’t have any concerns. If you press me for one area where there is a slight worry, I have to admit we can’t afford to have Paul Robinson or David James injured, because we don’t have goalkeepers behind them with tournament experience.
“There is room for improvement all round, of course, but as things stand I’m very confident that at full strength we can compete with anybody, on every level.” Eighty-two days and counting.
