|
September 5, 2002
(Thursday)
Sven is right to
pick the "Leeds two"
Sven-Goran Eriksson
is right to include Lee Bowyer and Jonathan
Woodgate in the squad to face Portugal this Saturday. I would have
done the same - and now that David Beckham is injured I would
certainly have Bowyer in the team.
I think that it is sufficient that both Leeds players have been
punished by not playing for England during their court proceedings.
Bowyer was cleared of all charges and Woodgate served his 100 hours'
community service for his conviction for affray.
Now that these non-football matters have been dealt with, it would
have been a simple decision for me to pick them - and Sven clearly
feels the same.
As a football manager you select on merit when outside problems do
not interfere. It would be different if they have been banned by
their club, but they haven't.
Bowyer has been in excellent form this season and should play in the
centre of midfield against Portugal.
He clearly has a strong character and does not seem to have been
affected by the controversy. Hopefully he has learned from all his
off-field problems - and is now ready to learn a bit more as a
footballer.
I don't think Woodgate has handled the pressure as well as his team-
mate. He seemed far less strong in terms of character and, unlike
Bowyer, did not carry on playing. But hopefully they will both be
able to concentrate on their respective games now, irrespective of
what may happen off the pitch in the near future.
The addition of those two players to a generally young squad shows
how Sven is starting to prepare for the European Championship
campaign. When you come home from a World Cup you spend the first few
months analysing the good and bad points that came out of the
tournament. Sven will have done that and will now want to look
forward.
Part of that process involves looking at other players which is why
there is no David Seaman or Teddy Sheringham in this squad.
He knows what they can do, but what about the rest? The trick is to
give other players experience without allowing Portugal to inflict
the sort of mauling that could affect their confidence. Sven has
shown he will not be deflected from his beliefs and I'm not surprised
that his critics are starting to say he is too calm all the time.
What you have to remember is that last year everyone was praising his
unflappability. So what's changed? I experienced exactly the same
thing myself.
The point is that there is no set way to manage in terms of shouting
or staying calm - you do what you feel is right at the moment.
Obviously, if you shout all the time then players just switch off,
but equally they can get complacent if you don't show some passion on
occasions.
Shouting for the right reasons is acceptable, but in my time as
England manager I never had any problems motivating players: they
were always proud to pull on the shirts and wanted to win. They also
gave their all because they wanted to impress the manager and remain
in the side.
But then there is no such thing as a friendly international. The
nation expects you to win and, however much the manager wants to
experiment, he always has to remember that.
No matter what the result, it will be endlessly analysed.
The events of this week will have shown Sven - once again - that he
will never get the squad he wants. I certainly didn't.
The manager needs to be aware which players know the system and have
the experience to slot in as replacements if his first-choice players
pull out with injury.
Sven will be happy in his own mind with what the injured Beckham and
Kieron Dyer can do but he needs to know who can step in to do their
jobs.
That is why he has omitted Seaman, although I have no doubts that he
would be in goal if the tournament was starting tomorrow. Seaman has
stated clearly that he wants to carry on at international level and I
do not see anyone who has earned the right to take his gloves off him
at this stage.
Quite frankly, those people who criticise him for Gianfranco Zola's
goal for Chelsea do not understand the game.
Last Sunday's goal was caused by a defensive - not a goalkeeping -
error. Had the defender been doing his job properly, Seaman would not
have been in the position he was. Zola did not go for goal with that
freekick, he just put it into the area. As soon as Seaman saw a blue
shirt moving in to meet it, he had to come. If the defender had moved
with the Chelsea player then there would have been no problem.
For me, no keeper in the country has been consistent enough to
replace him. David James, for instance, is a great keeper but has yet
to show the required consistency. I believe the future of England's
goalkeeping jersey lies with Chris Kirkland of Liverpool.
With someone like Jerzy Dudek in front of him at Anfield, it is going
to be difficult for him to get the required Premiership experience
but he is a tremendous player and has all the necessary qualities. I
think the lad has got a great future.
On Saturday, it will also be interesting to see how the Alan Smith /
Michael Owen combination works up front. I think Owen is getting his
sharpness back after a quiet start to the season.
He is very different from Smith, needing to be up against the last
man in their defence. But Smith can come out of the attack and leave
room for someone like Bowyer to move up from midfield. He can also
give us another option by taking up wide positions.
So there will be much to learn against Portugal - and this game will
be of immense benefit to Sven. At the very least we can get Brazil
out of our system.
Portugal always flatter to deceive and not needing to qualify as
hosts of Euro 2004 will not necessarily help their preparations.
Like us, they have got a lot of younger players coming through and
the squad has a lot of individual talent. The problem has always been
that the mentality is wrong; it's not strong enough. Of course they
have the ability to beat us in a one-off game, as indeed they did in
the last European Championships.
I was doing TV that night and although we went 2-0 up I said at the
time we could lose it 4-2. As it turned out they won 3-2, although
those games seem to be one-offs with them.
The burden on Luis Figo is tremendous. At Real Madrid, a team who
would beat most national sides, he is surrounded by other talented
stars such as Zinedine Zidane, so playing for Portugal must be
difficult.
A lot is expected of him when he returns to play for his national
side. Too much, I suspect. I think it is a real problem for them.
¡@
Next
article:
Timely Woodgate writ to arrive soon
Previous
article:
Ridsdale: Let players get on with job
<< Back to New and Articles
¡@
|
