Joe Lovejoy - Sven-Goran Eriksson

Juan-Sebastian Veron was first brought to Europe by Eriksson, who signed him for Sampdoria from Boca Juniors of Argentina. Veron, who won Serie A with Eriksson at Lazio, said the Swede was a more straightforward personality than Sir Alex Ferguson. ‘Eriksson is the same person inside the dressing room as outside. Ferguson will challenge the team with strong words, which is not Eriksson’s way. For me, the best coach is the one who is best at building a relationship with his players, so that they feel at ease, feel supported. When, sitting on the bench, there is more than just a coach but a friend too, you perform to the best of your ability. There aren’t many like that, but it is the mark of Eriksson.’

John Barnwell, of the League Managers’ Association, and Gordon Taylor, of the Professional Footballers’ Association, had both objected strongly to England’s appointment of a foreigner. Barnwell described it an ‘an insult’ to his members, and Taylor accused the Football Association of ‘betraying their heritage’. Within a year, they were completely won over. Barnwell now says: ‘His [Eriksson’s] achievements have been quite stunning. He has created an atmosphere of trust with the managers of the top league clubs and he has used commonsense to handle fragile relationships. As a result, not one manager in the country would say anything detrimental about his approach or his attitude. There’s a confidence and an understanding and a great optimism for the future.’

Taylor said: ‘One thing he has brought with him is an aura of stillness, which is particularly useful in moments of crisis. He deals sensibly with problems and instils confidence in the players. His philosophy is that you’re never as bad as they say, and probably never as good either. You just need to know what you’re aiming for. He’s got a good understanding of footballers, and he treats them with respect. There’s an element of Alf Ramsey in him, and that kind of loyalty to players can make the difference when it comes to the crunch. In those respects, he has been a very good influence.’

David Beckham, the England captain, says: ‘Mr Eriksson has a lot of experience, and the players realize that. He trusts all of us to do our job, and every one of the players has got massive respect for him. That’s a vital thing for any manager.’

Glenn Hysen, a championship winner with Liverpool, played for Eriksson at Gothenburg and Fiorentina. He says: ‘When we first saw him, at Gothenburg, he seemed such a small guy that we didn’t think much of him. But when you’ve listened to what he has to say, you have to respect him. And you really do listen to him. He goes around the players, talks to them, jokes with them. He always used to get changed in the players’ dressing room. I don’t know if he still does that [he does]. He’s such a smart person. He knows a little about everything, not just football. I don’t think you could find anyone to say anything against him.

‘As a coach, he’s not a magician. His coaching is nothing unusual: blackboard, paper, charts, diagrams of free-kicks for and against. But he’s good at seeing what’s going wrong during a match.

Eriksson had the ‘karma’ of a latter-day Gandhi. ‘He always keeps a level head, especially in a crisis,’ Hysen added. ‘And he knows that even when he’s happy, and things are going well, it can all be different the next day. That knowledge helps to keep him calm at all times.’

Eriksson was Glenn Stromberg’s mentor with Gothenburg, in the Swedish Under-21 team and at Benfica. Stromberg says: ‘He was always very calm – and for the full 90 minutes. Many managers will panic after 80 minutes if things aren’t going their way. Not Sven. He knows it is as easy for his team to score at the end as it is at the beginning. He is a very hard-headed man, he goes his own way and whatever he thinks is right, he will do it to the very end. He never panics, and players like that. I think England benefited from that when they played Greece in the last of their World Cup qualifiers. When I played for him, there were many games like that, when we got important goals very late, or held out when it seemed impossible. At Gothenburg, and again at Benfica, the players came to think of him as a lucky manager, and themselves as a lucky team.’

At Benfica, Stromberg says, Eriksson was the voice of reason in the dressing room, rather than Mr Big. ‘He didn’t behave like some sort of genius who wanted everybody to know how many things he’d won. Some coaches are like that, but he certainly wasn’t. Each week, he just told the team how he wanted them to play. By personal example, he was good at creating the kind of hushed, thoughtful atmosphere you need in the dressing room before important games. When Sven left Benfica in 1983, I left as well. I knew it wouldn’t be as good there without him. He is the best coach I ever had, in a long career.

‘I’ve seen so many coaches who have thought one thing at the beginning of the season, then panicked and changed when results didn’t immediately go their way. They change players, change tactics, change their style of play, and how often does it pay off? Sven is always calm, and always sticks to his method. His strength of character is his biggest attribute.’

Stefan Schwarz, the Swedish international midfielder, won the Portuguese league and cup, and was a European Cup Finalist during Eriksson’s second spell at Benfica. Schwarz told me: ‘He’s also a very good psychologist, clever at getting into his players’ minds. At Benfica in those days he had Brazilians and Russians, as well as Portuguese and Swedes to deal with, and because his ability overall was so impressive, he commanded the respect of them all. He never raises his voice, and I think that’s because he doesn’t need to. You can see when he’s upset from the look on his face, and if you don’t respond the way he wants you to, you’ll be the one who suffers.’

England’s goalkeeper, David James, is also a fan, his comments clearly including a thinly veiled criticism of Eriksson’s predecessor, Kevin Keegan, whose relentless mateyness could be wearing. He said: ‘Mr Eriksson is one of the quieter managers I have worked with, but he is no less effective for that. You don’t necessarily want the boss plonking himself next to you every time you sit down for a bowl of soup. As a tactician, I would say that he puts the team together like a jigsaw. Different players are treated as individual pieces as he pulls them aside for a quiet chat, telling Michael Owen, for example, to run from deep. That conversation will be in isolation, but when the team comes together, all the pieces drop into place. The training is certainly more serious than under the last regime, with most of the work related to real match scenarios. Mr Eriksson, though, is very careful not to make it obvious from day one who is in his starting eleven, in case the other players switch off.’

The man himself borders on the esoteric when discussing his man-management catechism. ‘The ability to make the right decision, and then dare to do the right things in all situations, is decisive at the top of the modern game,’ he says. ‘If one player isn’t up for it mentally, the whole team can collapse. When we have to give a performance – a competition, a match, some task at work – there are two forces inside us, pulling in different directions. One is ambition, and this is a positive force. Our ambition wants us to improve, to succeed, to attain the goals we have set ourselves. The other force is performance anxiety. This is a negative force. It produces a fear of failing, of making mistakes, of disgracing ourselves and, as a result, of not being accepted by others. These “others” might be our trainer, our teammates, the media, the supporters and, in everyday life, friends, neighbours and workmates.’