Sven Koren Eriksson died having had enough of football, he always loved England, in which he became a national coach, he flourished in the European south and his footballers became great coaches. Written by Yannis Bileris
Sven Göran Eriksson, who died on Monday at the age of 76, moved the world with his brave battle against cancer, the message of life he sent throughout the illness and the fulfillment of his last wish to sit up for even one night. , on the bench of his beloved Liverpool at Anfield.
The truth is that the Swede, once no-nonsense to Thorsby and Sifhala, has passed away disillusioned with high-level football as he writes his own story as one of the greatest managers of all time. The multi-dimensional character, who seems unbearably cold in his birthplace (a small town of 10,000 people in western Sweden), is actually calm enough to control his emotions and protect his team and players from potential shocks.
Eriksen loved football, the 4-4-2 discipline, the zonal defense he implemented sometimes instead of man-to-man, he was ahead of his time, the whole team attacking while defending as a whole, he introduced innovative training and many of his players became great coaches. They had time to work alongside him to learn and develop his own ideas first learned as his students.
Eriksen’s class includes great and successful coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti, Diego Simeone, Roberto Mancini, Mathias Almeida, Simone Inzaghi and Sinisa Mihajlovic, who died of leukemia two years ago. It was no accident. It is like an open university to learn the secrets of football in training for those who want to continue what he taught on the pitch.
Almeida writes in his book about a quiet coach who never shouted, practiced a lot with the ball, didn’t like too many passes and preferred the long ball towards the striker. No one has forgotten him. Diego Simeone, upon hearing of his death, tweeted a simple but touching thank you with a photo of him with Eriska from his Lazio glory days and Juan Veron and Marcelo Salas celebrating one of the Italian club’s many triumphs.
His name first became known in 1982 when he led the Gothenburg amateurs (among them Hogan Sandberg, then centre-forward of AEK and briefly Olympiakos) to the UEFA Cup, with two wins (1-0 and 3-0 in Gothenburg). Germany) against Felix Magat, Manfred Kals and Horst Hrubes of Hamburg who would win the Champions Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Athens a year later.
Coach Dart Grip’s advice to quit active duty and start training was the best advice he’s ever been given. Within five years, Eriksen had become a high-profile coach, with a European title under his belt and ready for the next step in his career.
Like all Swedes, a devotee of English football, the first two coaches, Bob Hooton and Roy Hodgson, left their mark by working in the country, and then the live broadcast of the English league every Saturday produced Scandinavians (of course Eriksen). The game is almost one-sided.
His admiration for the 4-4-2 and English methods grew when Bobby Robson welcomed him into the Ipswich coaching staff in 1979.
“In Sweden, we all watched English football. That’s how I grew up. I am a big fan of 4-4-2. A regular soldier. For example, when he was injured, a striker was added instead of a striker, there was no way for a midfielder to come in. Over the years, I’ve realized it’s not just the computer. Yes, it is important, yes, we should serve it and use it, but it does not ultimately determine the development of the field.
What am I saying? After all, even on the computer, players enter. They are the ones who create the system that makes us successful. Some footballers we meet along the way in our lives cannot be pressed relentlessly as the system would like. However, at some point they will win a major tournament. That’s why they’re great players…” He admitted in one of his many interviews, and he showed a gradual adaptation with the data of the best coach.
He grew up in the South and saved the tree!
But instead of traveling to Britain, the Swede found himself in the European south. First in Portugal. Benfica, a team with a glorious past, but an uncertain present at the time gave him an opportunity and Eriksen left his frozen homeland to embrace Lisbon. Under his guidance, the Eagles returned to the elite, winning the league and playing in the Champions Cup.
In the second round, they met Olympiakos, who eliminated Ajax. At OAKA, Benfica were rattled by the “red and whites”, who won 1-0 thanks to a Nikos Anastopoulos header, but bowed out 3-0 to Portugal. Eriksen would lead Benfica to the final, not in 1984, but in his second term in 1990, when they lost the final to Dutch giants Milan (1-0).
However, he thrived and established himself as one of the best coaches in Europe, as was Italy. Eriksen worked for two big teams and eternal rivals. First at Roma, where he won the Italian Cup, then at Lazio, where he spent four years (1997-2001) on the bench and won 7 titles. When he took over Lazio, the team had won the championship for 25 years!
However, it was almost impossible for all of this to happen because at first Lazio fans wanted to kill him. In one of his first meetings with Sergio Graniotti, he dropped his bombshell: “President, to move forward, we have to get rid of the Signori.” The Lazio boss rolled his eyes and nearly choked. Bepe Signori was the superstar of the team and the darling of the stage (a few years later the Heracles base in Kautatzoglio also loved him). Eriskon was lighting the fuse.
“I don’t have a problem with Signori, but his mentality and the weight in the team. Lazio haven’t won anything…” Eriscon said. By the way, Eriscon convinced Graniotti, the Signori went to Sampdoria and civil war broke out in Lazio. The first practice after the sellout did not take place after angry fans of the team jumped over fences. Some of them jumped on the coach’s car as they staggered until their anger passed and smashed it.
“Luckily we won titles, including a historic club championship, so nobody remembers Signori’s departure…” the Swedish coach said afterwards.
In England for Glory and Destruction
He accepted an offer from the English federation while he was coaching Lazio. At first he refused, the pressure continued, and eventually Eriksen got what he said was the biggest job in world football. He became the coach of the England national team. First foreigner in his history.
Finally, getting to where he always wanted to be, Erickson enjoyed it all. And like the Three Lions coach, he landed in the eye of the storm. Many times he himself gave the opportunity…
- The tabloids found fertile ground in 2002 when he had an affair with Anglo-Swedish presenter Ulrika Johnson (who lived with lawyer Nancy Del Olio and his partner after his 1994 divorce from his wife, Anne Christine Peterson). Years later he was linked with Faria Alam, an assistant to David Davies, the managing director of the English FA!
- The “fake sheikh” case damaged his reputation. Mazar Mahmoud, a world reporter who has made a career of ensnaring celebrities in a variety of roles, was reportedly approached by an Arab who went on record as interested in working for Aston Villa: “If you buy Villa, I’ll be the coach and let’s get Beckham out of Real Madrid,” the England national said. said the coach of the team. He then sued Mahmoud for moral damages.
- His appointment with Abramovich to take over at Chelsea sent journalists into a frenzy regardless of whether the Englishman did the same. When he was the coach of Lazio, he was being talked about taking over their national team.
With the England national team, he qualified for the 2002 World Cup thanks to David Beckham’s late goal foul against Greece at Old Trafford. Three times he exited in the knockout quarterfinals. In Japan in 02, from Brazil (2-1 Ciman conceded a goal for Ronaldinho’s mistake … from a cross) and in the next two cases from Portugal (on penalties).
Greece won Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006. By then Rooney had been sent off, leaving his squad with ten players. Erickson considers this match to be the most important in his career. He believed that England would win the World Cup. At the press conference, most English reporters aggressively questioned Rooney’s dismissal.
The Swedish gentleman spoke on the floor: “Don’t kill Wayne. He’s the future of English football. You need him for many more years. Kill me if you want, you don’t need me anymore…”
Eriksen received a lot of criticism for not being able to lead England to the promised land. He showed tolerance for Beckham’s efforts, he couldn’t capitalize on the Lampard-Gerrard duo and reacted when he was behind the score. In England he lost all his wealth (due to wrong investments) and as a result he was forced to work in Asia for the last few years, but eventually everyone recognized his opportunity.
When he left, he was the Lions’ second most successful manager after Sir Alf Ramsey (who was overtaken by Southgate) with big wins of 1-5 and big defeats of 1-0 in Germany in World Cup qualifiers. England’s first B. against Ireland since 1972.
“That’s the coach’s life. They say I’m… waxy. I don’t react, I don’t show my emotions. Wrong. Like all people, I had anger, sadness, joy. When my teams lost, I couldn’t. ‘I tried to convince myself that there was a next match, And it: “Same with victories. We must not be carried away by a great victory…”
Sven Goran Eriksson’s death has left the footballing world sad. Everyone has something to say about a real person who has come their way, at some point or another. Like David Beckham, who visited him at his home in Sweden.
“We laughed, we cried and we know we said goodbye. Thank you Sven for always being the same person. Emotional, protective, calm, genuine. I will forever be grateful that you made me your leader, but I will also be. Enjoy these last memories of these days with you and your family.