Woeful Sven

Dear Sven,

After spending 5 years on the same job, going to see the same group of players during the weekend has done much damage to your managing skills, or it never did cause you actually don't have any.

Why do you insist on putting the players out of position???

You delight in seeing them struggle to make something out of it or the player power is too much to take???

You have probably one of the best set of midfield players in Europe if you play them in the right position.

English players grew up playing the 442 formation, this is the way their forefathers play, this is the way the fans love to see them play.

Joe Cole at LM is not the best choice but why not play Stuart Downing, he is one of the most improved LM in the EPL and he can run down the flank and deliver the crosses.

The two CM should likely be Gerrard and Lampard, but both are too attack minded. Carrick should do a good job as a DM and holding position.

RM is one that belongs to Wright-Philps, his runs to the bye should put many defenders on their toes throughout the match.

Then why should Mr Beckham be?? On the bench!!!!

What did he do this morning, spraying passes 30 to 40 m out, making Rooney runs all over the place, no wonder he is hot temper.

Yah, yah, he can take corners and free kicks, but so can Lampard and Gerrard and Roodney and Defoe....

Then for the strikers.....Rooney is not your out and out striker like Klinnman or Lineker or Shearer, he is more like an AM who likes to drop deep, bring the ball up create the space and bang in a goal.

Owen lacks confidence now, rejected by Madrid, snugged by Liverpool and ended up in Newcastle, boy what a horrible time he is having man, so don't blame him when he ballon his only chance in the game (or was that England's only chance!).












Well, you better starts thinking about the remaining 2 games.....

I know many people are eyeing your job....Mr Bobby is always ready and he can make Becks sit on the bench.

Cheers
A by-stander waiting for England to lift the World Cup or for that matter any Cup

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Northern Ireland 1-0 England: Healy stuns woeful visitors

England plumbed new depths of embarrassment as their World Cup qualification hopes took a battering in Belfast, with David Healy firing Northern Ireland to perhaps the greatest victory in their history.

And to think that Sven-Goran Eriksson had claimed his side could compete with Brazil next summer.

At cricket? Certainly not at football, certainly not with these tactics, certainly not with this lack of leadership from their manager and certainly not by a team going backwards fast in international terms.

To make matters even worse, if that was possible, Wayne Rooney ruled himself out of the next qualifier at home to Austria next month with his second booking of the campaign. It was that sort of night.

Eriksson was once again left powerless on the bench, suffering the pain of being beaten by the side ranked 116th in the world as Healy's 74th-minute winner flew past Paul Robinson.

'Are you Scotland in disguise?' taunted the home fans. Certainly not, for the Scots are a winning side again, courtesy of a 2-1 success in Norway.

England, meanwhile, are getting worse, not better. Routed 4-1 in Denmark, they scraped past Wales in Cardiff but have now hit another low against a side ranked 116th in the world.

Make no mistake, this Northern Ireland side may have made history and deserve every accolade coming their way after a performance which will be remembered for decades in these parts.

However, their weekend win against Azerbaijan was their first competitive victory in almost four years. Their second followed just four days later.

Boss Lawrie Sanchez, the inspiration behind Wimbledon's 1988 FA Cup final upset against Liverpool, had confounded the odds once again.

Eriksson, meanwhile, could only watch helplessly as his side's failings were painfully exposed. Beat Brazil? On this form, they would struggle against Barnet.

England's out-of-form midfield ran down dead-end channels, Michael Owen was left isolated up front and, most damagingly of all, Rooney was sapped of his creative influence, as much by his role as his lack of support.

But while Rooney's temperament is as fragile as ever, the England coach bears some responsibility for the striker's absence against Austria as his role on the left flank demanded him to track back and make desperate tackles.

For Sanchez's side were up for it from the off, plunging into full-blooded challenges as England were knocked out of the stride amid the blustery conditions.

With Rooney a depressingly isolated figure out on the left flank, David Beckham instead concentrated on firing long balls out to the other wing, from where Shaun Wright-Phillips had set up the winner against Wales.

This time, however, there was no promise of a repeat performance. Beckham did rattle the woodwork with a free-kick, while Owen directed an overhead kick straight at keeper Maik Taylor just before the break.

However, Northern Ireland were not unduly troubled and Rooney's frustration was clearly growing. Indeed, when he was denied a free-kick just before half-time, he blasted the ball into the opposition's half in anger.

Beckham marched over to urge the teenager to calm down but was met with a four-letter verbal volley as Rooney promptly launched himself, arm-first, into a dangerous challenge on Keith Gillespie.

He was fortunate only to be booked - despite still being ruled out of the Austria game - but he had not calmed down yet.

When he charged into another arm-first challenge on Chris Baird, Swiss referee Massimo Busacca's leniency only just continued and a final warning was issued.

Rooney re-emerged after the interval with a very public hug for Beckham in the way of an apology but England were little improved and Joe Cole soon replaced Wright-Phillips.

Determined to make his mark after being dropped despite his match-winning goal against Wales, Cole quickly crossed for Owen to flick a header wide, while Lampard's long-range effort was tipped round the post.

However, it was the Northern Irish who rallied instead, with James Quinn firing an effort just wide, while Robinson gratefully grasped a dangerous low cross by Healy. The warning signs were not heeded.

Steve Davis then clipped the ball forwards into the path of Healy, who had evaded the offside trap, and the Leeds striker brought the ball down on his instep before firing an unstoppable shot into the far corner.

That goal brought the Windsor Park crowd ecstatically to their feet. They could not believe it. Neither could the England bench.

Eriksson brought on Jermain Defoe for Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves for Lampard but it was the home side who threatened again on the break through Healy, with substitute Warren Feeney also just inches away from a second.

England now need to beat Austria and Poland to make sure of qualification - but next summer's tournament is fast becoming the moment when Eriksson's time could be up as England coach. If not before.

• Beckham 'hurt' by defeat

England captain David Beckham insisted tonight's 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Northern Ireland 'hurt more than any other' in his national team career.

Leeds striker David Healy scored the only goal of the game at Windsor Park to secure one of the greatest wins in the province's history.

It piles more pressure on England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, but Real Madrid star Beckham was adamant the team would show unity in defeat.

He told BBC Sport: 'Strong words have been said by the manager and the lads have to take it. It has been an embarrassment, but we stick together, that's what the team is about, even when we're criticised.

'Tonight hurts more than anything, but we stick together and we have to put it right. If we win the next two games we go top of the group.'

Beckham's own performance was one of the better individual displays, but asked whether it had come at the expense of a good team showing, the former Manchester United player said: 'If that's the case then the manager will have to look at it and change it.

'This formation is not just for me solely - it's what the manager believes in. It's not about me performing well and others not, but we didn't perform well again tonight.'

Asked how this performance could be squared with claims in some quarters that England were contenders to win the World Cup, Beckham added: 'It's not the players saying we'll win the World Cup. But we have to play a lot, lot better than we did tonight and everyone of us in the dressing room is disappointed.'

Beckham's attention was drawn to fans chanting for Eriksson to go, and he responded: 'It's always worrying when you hear that, leading up to the World Cup. That's what it's like, people have paid a lot of money to come and watch us. I love the way the fans are, but they're frustrated. It's hard for the manager to take and the players to take but we accept it.'

Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez's mood was starkly different to Beckham's, and he praised his players for 'believing'.

'Credit goes to the players. All we can do is point them in the right direction - we made them believers,' he told the BBC.

'By half-time we had 11 believers. We were magnificent and the best team won in the end.'

Sanchez, who as a player scored the winning goal in Wimbledon's shock FA Cup final victory over Liverpool in 1988 and as a manager led Second Division Wycombe to the semi-finals of the same competition 13 years, admits he has a gift for the upset.

'I must have something going for me! We are a small nation in world football terms and to beat a team of England's calibre is amazing,' he added.

'This is about the players - they have given their all all week and won two fantastic games (having also beaten Azerbaijan 2-0 on Saturday).

'The goal David Healy scored - he does that. It's his 11th in 17 internationals for me and he has got a quality that is Premiership class. As for the support - not bad is it?'