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FOWLER: England criticism
FOWLER: England criticism
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Fowler: Eriksson wrong man for England


15/ 8/2005

CITY striker Robbie Fowler has branded England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson a "long-ball merchant" with a vastly overinflated reputation.

The Blues strker, who has not regularly featured for England since Eriksson took over the national job, launches an attack on the Swede's abilities in his new book.

And Fowler, who has 26 caps for England, believes England made a mistake in appointing him over Terry Venables.

"Sven Goran Eriksson has, for me, a reputation vasly inflated beyond his actual achievements," he writes in his book - which is being serialised by the Mail On Sunday.

"He was a safe pair of hands after Kevin Keegan but he wasn't the first choice of the players.

"The FA took the unpredecented step of asking some of the senior players who they thought should be the next manager. Almost to a man, everyone who was asked came up with the name that I would have offered - Terry Venables."

Fowler, currently injured, blasted Eriksson for his lack of passion and said that his style of play meant he would never fit into the England team under the Swede's management - whereas pacy forwards, including new teammate Darius Vassell, would.

"He played me a few times and against Greece I even felt the team was set up to accommodate my talent," he claims.

"For the large part, though, he was a long-ball merchant. He wanted pace up front, no matter what the standard was.

"Darius Vassell won far more caps under Eriksson than I could ever have dreamed of and that's becasue the manager was obsessed with lumping early long balls for quick fellas up front.

"It's the modern disease and, for me, its the preserve of a bankrupt coach."

And he warned that England had no chance of success under Eriksson's guidance.

"To me, though, he's not a particularly good manager, he's a half-decent coach who has got himself a massive reputation," he writes.

"England are an organised team and there won't be any slip-ups in qualifying. Get to the finals, though, and when we come up against a proper team, that won't be enough - and that's a shame given the talent we have available."

Do you agree with Fowler? Have your say.


| Submit CommentSubmit Comments | View CommentsView Comments(34)


Most recent 2 of 34 user comments

   well said Robbie,about time someone had the guts to say what most fans [if they are honest] know is true.SGE has no passion,has to many favs. and not only that but has McClaren as his no.2 England play poor football and don,t have a chance of winning a major prize.
paul, maine road
16/08/2005 at 09:36

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   Robbie Fowler might be saying something not wrong, but he should keep his opinion to himself little bit longer instead of making such criticism. Basically, I had a hope that RF may start scoring a lot of goals again in this season, so that he could come back in England squad again. Since 2002 World Cup, he was not able to play regularly even in the Man City for many reasons. He only started playing well only after Anelka left Man City in last season.

SGE did not have any strong reason to include him in the national team in last three years.

But now, it is so sad to see what he wrote as it would be virtually impossible for him to play for coming 2006 World Cup by making such criticism against SGE. He might be saying right thing but in wrong time.
Aung Kyaw Win, Singapore
16/08/2005 at 09:17

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