Ice-cool Swede in hot water if England fail

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP/England v Turkey: It is a small step from asking for a manager to change to wishing for a change of manager. Sven-Goran Eriksson is not cornered or desperate, but he did sound fatigued yesterday. Anyone might get tired when his personality becomes a target of protest.

It is too late for him to trade his character in and he needs to see England defeat Turkey this evening if he is to position himself in a kindlier light.

With that result his team would glide to the top of Group Seven in the Euro 2004 qualifiers and at present the criticism is overblown. But the ramifications are still serious for Eriksson. The England captain, David Beckham, has been around long enough to see Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan fall into disfavour and he identified the syndrome when speaking on Eriksson's behalf.

"Now that it's started I think it'll carry on in some quarters of the press," he said of the discontent. "If we win, (the pressure) might be lifted for a short while, but, when the next game comes around, we have to do it again, and again. That's the way it is."

The country's involvement with an England coach has emotional depth and this relationship has hit a rocky patch. All the traits that used to be so charming have started to be nigglesome. Eriksson's self-possession used to be attractive but now his supposed bloodlessness gets on people's nerves. Although he is the same as ever, reactions to him are under glowering review.

There is a desire for him to be more demonstrative, or even just louder. It is embarrassing to present yelling as an essential tool of sophisticated international sport, but the quibblings are as much a comment on the muted displays by his England team of late.

Eriksson knows how preposterous it would be if he pledged to come up with regular tirades as crowd-pleasers.

"If you want someone shouting," he said, "you will have to change (coaches). At my age it would be very difficult to change my character and I have no intention of doing that. You are always criticised if you don't win football games, whether you are shouting or not shouting, whatever you do. Winning is the only answer."

Beckham is adamant, in any case, that Eriksson is not insipid.

"He is a very passionate person and a very passionate manager," the captain said. "He's passionate because he wants the team to win more than anything. When he needs to we've seen him shouting and telling players what to do and what not to do.

"For me there's not much difference between Kevin Keegan and Mr Eriksson. They show it in different ways, of course, and probably both have been criticised for their different styles, but they are both passionate managers. (Eriksson) is doing the job to the best of his abilities and he has got great abilities."

The build-up to England's most important game since the World Cup finals has felt like a counselling session, with personalities dissected and feelings exposed. Beckham is exasperated when the squad is regarded as unmotivated.

"I am personally insulted as I'm England captain," he said. "It annoys me."

All of these topics are in circulation, however, only because of pallid displays. The real issue is not Eriksson's temperament but its effectiveness in inspiring sharp, enterprising endeavours. No one found the Swede tiresome when England were winning 5-1 in Munich, but now there is a reasonable request that he prove himself capable of taking the team back towards those heights.

Eriksson cannot have failed to hear the grumbles over an insipid 2-0 win against Liechtenstein at the weekend. That was a stupefying afternoon and the mere presence of Turkey at the Stadium of Light should quicken the spirits of the squad. But a great deal more than that will be required. He has to confine the visitors' admirable midfield while ensuring that England are not stuck in a defensive posture.

Paul Scholes must be liberated from some of the laborious duties so he can operate closer to the Turkey penalty area. Tugay Kerimoglu is also at work there, but he prefers building moves to tracking opponents.

If Scholes is to have a free role then the manager may have to polish the diamond formation in midfield that has lain unused since the victory in Slovakia six months ago.

With Kieron Dyer omitted, Nicky Butt would come in beside Steven Gerrard to form a bulwark against the attacks that Emre Belozoglu and Yildiray Basturk will attempt to launch from deep positions.

Turkey, having finished third in the World Cup finals, deserve to be handled with care, but it is unduly deferential to treat them as inevitably superior.

Senol Gunes, the coach, implied that Eriksson might be sacked if this game went wrong for him.

"Maybe he wants the job," replied the Swede lightly. "In that case there are two of us who want the job. I want to keep it."

Gunes has hatched no such plot but Eriksson was entitled to his little reminder that he holds one of the major posts in world football. All he needs now is for England to prove that they, too, are in the top tier.

Guardian Service