So, overall, how good/bad was Sven as manager?

[Genghis Cohen]

Take a look at the Hunrary friendly, they are on a par with Ecuador or Paraguy. I was thinking that David Beckham should probably be dropped but he got out onto the pitch and terrorised that defence with what can only be described as a masterclass in right wing crossing.

Goes out to the WC and might as well not be there. Woeful. What happened to him in three or so weeks?

barry chuckle being injured, woeful finishing from owen ? Crouch put away the chance he got from Beckham, alright Beckham wasnt outstanding but having a winger who can only go outside is fundamentally shit before you've even started.

For me though, Beckham scored two, that first one was never an OG.

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been putting top class performances in for their clubs week in and week out. What happened to them? I find it difficult to see how a manager can improve a players state of mind? In Gerrards case, less than one straight year of play might have improved things.

Whats become apparent to me is that Gerrard and FFF are judged by very different standards, if Gerrard doesnt score a 40 yard winner in the last minute he's had a 'bad game,' if FFF scores a tap in at any point, he's 'better than ronaldinho,' arguably this is because everyone knows who the better player is, same thing seems to happen to Henry a lot too.

Honestly, Gerrard laid on countless good chances for Owen and Lampard over the 5 games, I can think of two 'sitters' in the last game alone, actually, three, there was that corner, if they go in as they probably should have done, Gerrard is hailed as brilliant, yet because someone else cant finish, he's 'disappeared,' its madness.

I agree about playing 12 months straight, FA have to look at themselves there I'm afraid.

 

[Jo/Joe]

No, Gerrard didn't seize hold of games like he does for Liverpool. There is more to him than goals/laying on goals. He was better than Lampard, but still not good enough.

Beckham didn't even turn up.

 

[Sunray]

No, Gerrard didn't seize hold of games like he does for Liverpool. There is more to him than goals/laying on goals. He was better than Lampard, but still not good enough.

Beckham didn't even turn up.

Its more than just the odd cross or great ball thats not scored from.

Watch him for the Liverpool and you will see that he has that something extra thats rare and indefinable. He can take the game and win it on his own, everyone else just looks on in awe.

For England that was missing.

 

[Genghis Cohen]

No, Gerrard didn't seize hold of games like he does for Liverpool. There is more to him than goals/laying on goals. He was better than Lampard, but still not good enough.

Beckham didn't even turn up.

After the some of the arse you were coming out with before the whole thing (ff wont bottle it, play him upfront, Crouch wont score,) you're in no position to be passing judgement now.

It wasnt Gerrards job to 'seize hold' of games anymore than it was ferdinands, his job, thanks to the ilk of you who insisted that fatty was ace; was to protect the back four (in the first four games at least, in the final game where that wasnt his job, he did another job by laying on three of the easiest chances you're ever likely to see,) goals scored against england on Gerrard's watch ?

1

From a set piece, after he came on as a sub and scored, oh and cleared the ball off the line, infact, he single handedly saved england from meeting germany.

Despite being held on a leash by sven and the southern media, he still ended up englands top scorer and joint best player.

 

[muser]

0?

He has had possibly the best choice of players for an England team for 40 years and he has done nothing with them.

At every turn he has made the wrong decision. From taking a relatively unknown 17 year old as a back up striker, who he never saw play, then refusing to play him in any game at all, despite England losing their first choice striker.

To playing 4-5-1 formation with Rooney as a front man.

It is my opinion that perhaps the only England manager worse then Sven was the Turnip. Even Hoddle was a better manager, and he was quite clearly mentally unbalanced.

No way. Sven is a 7 or 8. The team isn't good. They play for big clubs and have made the odd contribution. But this is in a league that is exciting to watch but is very poor technically in my opinion.

 

[Dr. Furface]

I'd give him 6.... just about. Ok, so we qualified for 3 championships, but we had some very easy groups and still usually weren't convincing (N.Ireland particularly awful display). We should have won at least one of the quarter finals we reached and I believe we should have won Euro 2004, which was there for the taking. Sven's caution and incomprehensible substitutions cost us that title. I think that even without Rooney we should have won it and we had a far better chance than in the world cup - which will probably always be the case. And this year's debacle was nothing short of a criminal waste of talent caused by some foolish squad selections and tactical stupidity.

I think we should've got rid of him after Euro 2004, but the FA idiots had given him such a fat salary that meant they couldn't afford to pay him off. He cost us around £24m and for that we had every right to expect more, including a title.

 

[Rollem]

pretty average really wasn't he?

the media keep hounding on about him being the only england manager to get the team to the quarter finals of three competitions. but at the end of the day we didnt win anything under him, and he made some strange decisions along the way. so distinctly average for me

6/10

:0

 

[happie chappie]

Well – what is the mark of a good manager? Someone who can take a group of players and get them to perform as a team at a consistently higher level than one could expect given their individual talents - ie, make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

The skills needed for international management are totally different from those required of a club manager. Gus Hiddink would be an example of what I would regards as an excellent international manager - look what he did firstly with South Korea (admittedly, with a little help from compliant referees) and latterly with Australia. Brian Clough would be a good example on the domestic front and, more recently, Paul Jewell.

Sven told us repeatedly before the tournament that was the best squad of players an England manager had had at his disposal. Either Sven failed to get the best of out of them, or they were not a good as he said they were (compare Beckham’s almost non-existent performances with those of his much older Real Madrid team mate, Zidane). Either way, Sven is at fault.

An appalling tactical naivety was compounded by his continued selected of players who, on form, should not have been in the team - Beckham is a prime example. Playing Rooney up front, on his own, was also stupid, as was leaving both Downing and Lennon mostly on the bench while the team on the pitch struggled to offer anything creatively.

His World Cup squad was woefully unbalanced, and he didn’t seem to ever decide what was his best side, nor what was the best formation. The last five years seemed to be just one long experiment, with the feeling that it would somehow “be alright on the night”. Well, it wasn’t and I'm glad he’s gone.

I just hope McLaren, who had a reputation at both Derby and Man Utd of being an innovative and imaginative coach, doesn’t repeat his former boss’s mistakes. The beginning of the end of Beckham’s international career may mean the midfield log-jam can be broken and we can move to a more comfortable 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1 with Rooney playing just off the main striker).

For these, and a host of other reasons, 4 out of 10

Happie Chappie