Robbie Fowler rejoins Liverpool

[Del Boy]

Among other things about saying one thing to his face and then doing another:

"Everything I had suspected about Eriksson was shown in the quarter final against Brazil. He needed to take some brave decisions because Michael and David were clearly not capable of playing in the game. Of course both wanted to, but as a manager he had to take the decision away from them and be strong."

"At half time, you could see on the faces of the players that they were shell-shocked having conceded a goal to a very good team and they thought that was it. It was still only 1-1 and it was time for the manager to get to work, change the tactics and instil some belief in the team. How we could have done with Terry Venables that day. But Eriksson is not a passionate man, he's not a talker at all."

"He said nothing in the changing room at half time, absolutely f***-all, just stood there with a startled look on his face like he too believed we were f***ed. And that's the way it turned out. We went out of the World Cup without even a whimper, just rolled over and died becasue we didn't have a clue what we were doing out there against a side who played decent football, and because there was no team spirit, no fight, no togetherness. And the manager didn't say a word."

"He didn't shout, he didn't inspire, he didn't encourage and he didn't offer any tactical insight or switches."

And it goes on.

Fowler's book is well worth a read.

FFS! We have still got the xxxxxxxxxxx for a World Cup

 

[Icy Gull]

The word of one disaffected striker should count for very little: there have been plenty of quotes from players who rate Sven.

That disaffected striker speaks for what I and many others thought during and after that Brazil game. Sven then went and repeated the same mistake against France and Portugal. Won't be holding my breath that he doesn't go into startled rabbit mode in Germany

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

if sven goes all startled rabbit i reckon sammy lee should just twat him in the face and take over

 

[e77]

This should inspire us to bring back a legend to solve our striking problem.

Bring back Wardy !

 

[Del Boy]

if sven goes all startled rabbit i reckon sammy lee should just twat him in the face and take over

I'm sure with a natural leader in there (Terry) he can do the business!! Becks is a great player but not much of a talker!!

 

[Gwylan]

That disaffected striker speaks for what I and many others thought during and after that Brazil game. Sven then went and repeated the same mistake against France and Portugal. Won't be holding my breath that he doesn't go into startled rabbit mode in Germany

Eh? We lost on penalties to Portugal - I'm not sure how a manager can be blamed for that.

I agree that putting on Heskey against wasn't Sven's most inspired substitution but he could scarcely be blamed for Gerrard's moment of madness.

The main point is that Fowler had a book to sell and it was in his best interests to exaggerate and embellish as much as he could. It's not be supported by other players, in fact, it's the reverse, Beckham, Owen et al speak very highly of Sven - you don't even hear of that old stand-by, an anonymous player.

When we read a half a dozen books by players without an axe to grind we can start worrying. I prefer to judge managers by results and Sven's have been extremely good.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

portugal took off figo, their "star" player which worked a treat

beckham wasn't playing well, sven keeps him on

a big SGE problem is that he never drops or takes off his little favorites


he also reacted SHITLY to rooney going off, we were never the same after that

 

[caesar salad]

Quote of the day, from a Man City supporter who texted 5 Live:
"Good riddance to overweight, unfit rubbish. Liverpool would have been better off signing Pauline Fowler."

Well, it made me smile on the Friday evening lap of the M25.

 

[Sid James]

What a shrewd chap Rafa is. Probably fairly cheap ( relatively ) on the wages front, happy to be there whether he plays or not, never did rely on pace, supreme finisher, eligible for all games.

Rafa for England ?

Oh sorry, I forgot about the TRIED and TESTED Englishman thing.

 

[Easy 10]

The main point is that Fowler had a book to sell and it was in his best interests to exaggerate and embellish as much as he could. It's not be supported by other players, in fact, it's the reverse, Beckham, Owen et al speak very highly of Sven - you don't even hear of that old stand-by, an anonymous player.

Of course its not supported by other players - the likes of Beckham and Owen are still are still very much embedded within the warm and welcoming comfort zone of Svens cosy little family of players. They're hardly going to speak out against the England manager while they're still being picked. They know what side their bread is buttered.

Personally, I think the account of a player who was IN that dressing room but no longer has to maintain relations with the England manager is FAR more reliable than the happy-clappy love-in we're all led to believe that England squad really is.

 

[Citrus in Sheffield]

, but !

 

[Hiney]

Of course its not supported by other players - the likes of Beckham and Owen are still are still very much embedded within the warm and welcoming comfort zone of Svens cosy little family of players. They're hardly going to speak out against the England manager while they're still being picked. They know what side their bread is buttered.

Personally, I think the account of a player who was IN that dressing room but no longer has to maintain relations with the England manager is FAR more reliable than the happy-clappy love-in we're all led to believe that England squad really is.

 

[Icy Gull]

Eh? We lost on penalties to Portugal - I'm not sure how a manager can be blamed for that.
.

Looks like I have to spell it out Scoring early and then abandoning any ambition of scoring again by playing deep and defending is a Sven trait. It happend in both the France and Portugal games. We could have won with something to spare if Sven's fear of losing hadn't stifled his team. SGE is a manager who's tactics are better suited to 90's Italian teams. Oh hang on that's how he made his name, useless in the British game though, we don't have the players or the mentality to play that way.

 

[Sid James]

Looks like I have to spell it out Scoring early and then abandoning any ambition of scoring again by playing deep and defending is a Sven trait. It happend in both the France and Portugal games. We could have won with something to spare if Sven's fear of losing hadn't stifled his team. SGE is a manager who's tactics are better suited to 90's Italian teams. Oh hang on that's how he made his name, useless in the British game though, we don't have the players or the mentality to play that way.

Spot on. But then we weren't to know he would bottle it in the later stages of big tournaments. Some previous incumbents never got that far.

I just hope that the fact that he leaves straight after means the safety first approach goes out of the window in this tournament.

Hopeless optimist me.

And please give it to Guus afterwards.

 

[El Presidente]

How did we beat Germany 5-1 in their back yard playing defensive football?

 

[Sid James]

How did we beat Germany 5-1 in their back yard playing defensive football?

Bizarrely because we went 1-0 down. Same happened with Croatia in Euro 2004 and Argentina recently.

I don't think he sets out to play defensively but when he gets something he does like to hold on to it. Don't you think ?

 

[El Presidente]

He is very cautious tactically but then so is Mourinho.

I think the players lack self belief at time, and tend to hold onto a 1-0, in much the same way that the Albion do.

Having said that, if you look at Sven's 3 main defeats

1. Brazil, freak goal followed by our 9 fit men being given a lesson in keeping the ball by their 10 men.

2. France Euro 2004: 1-0 up with twenty minutes to go, awarded a penalty which Goldenballs missed. If Lampard had taken it we would have scored and won the game.

3. Portugal Euro 2004. Am I going mad, but I am sure we had a perfectly good goal disallowed in extra time that would have won us the match. Look half the side without Rooney though, which is a major concern this summer.

 

[Easy 10]

Mouinho is cautious when he needs to be, but the difference is he can REACT and make effective tactical subsitiutions and changes during a game.

THAT is a trick Sven has never quite mastered. If its all going tits up, then theres not a damn thing Eriksson can do about it.

 

[enigma]

Mouinho is cautious when he needs to be, but the difference is he can REACT and make effective tactical subsitiutions and changes during a game.

THAT is a trick Sven has never quite mastered. If its all going tits up, then theres not a damn thing Eriksson can do about it.

Mourinho is on a different level to Sven. Cautious he may be but Mourinho is one of the best I have ever seen in terms of changing his tactics when things arent going his way.

He is also an inspirational manager, listen to the likes of Lampard and Terry and you can hear how much they want to play for him.

 

[Sid James]

I think that ( bad ) luck has played it's part but not as much as we like to make out.

The difference between being very good ( which we are under Eriksson ) and great ( winning a major tournament ) is not luck.

In the words of Gary Player 'the more I practice, the luckier I get'.

In all of those examples things could have been done that would have prevented us being a hostage to fortune, although I personally feel that beating Brazil was beyond us back then.