Sven expects sack if England don't qualify
Sven-Goran Eriksson has admitted he is likely to lose his job if he does not lead England to the World Cup.
The Swede has been heavily criticised following England’s shock 1-0 defeat to Northern in Belfast on Wednesday.
Eriksson’s formation, tactics and inspirational qualities have all come under the spotlight but he insists he is determined to fight on.
Eriksson told BBC’s Football Focus programme: “I can motivate my players (as Lawrie Sanchez did for Northern Ireland).
“I have many times. Just because I am not shouting it has nothing to do with motivation or passion.
“I care. I am desperate when we are losing but I am not shouting. I want England to play in the World Cup and I am putting my reputation on it.
“If I do not go to the World Cup I will not have a job in this country and elsewhere.
“I can understand the criticism. We lost to Ireland and I understand the critics.
“If England do not qualify maybe I should not be here. But England will qualify I am sure of it.”
Asked if he would resign now, the Swede insisted: “Absolutely not, no chance. We have one foot in the World Cup. We have two games to go and if we win both we are in the World Cup. Why should I resign?
“Things went wrong on Wednesday, especially in the second half. The manager’s job is to try to get it right. I will talk to the players before we come together again and we will get this right.”
Eriksson used a 4-5-1 formation last week with captain David Beckham in a deep midfield role.
The system appeared to suit the Real Madrid star but not the rest of the team.
Eriksson was asked if he would ever drop Beckham and replied: “If he plays like he is now, no. If he is not playing good football for a while I will drop him.”
Eriksson insists his approach to the game and formation were correct and that the loss was down to a loss of spirit and Northern Ireland’s determination after Wayne Rooney incurred a booking.
He added: “When you lose football games everything is bad, you can find errors everywhere but I don’t think the formation was the problem.
“In the first 35 minutes we played as well as we wanted to play, Paul Robinson never touched the ball.
“Something happened out there but we couldn’t get it right. We lost the spirit, Northern Ireland beat us and we have to accept that.
“It is up to me now to get it right and we have to get it right before we meet up for the October games.”
Eriksson admitted Rooney played close to the edge and deserved his booking for hitting Keith Gillespie in an aerial challenge.
The Manchester United striker had been deployed in a left-sided role rather than the central position he took up against Wales last weekend.
Eriksson added on Football Focus: “He is always playing to the edge. This is a stupid challenge and he could have been sent off.
“I think he played very well until he got booked, absolutely fantastic.
“We lost our spirit. Northern Ireland were more aggressive, they started to win every second ball.”
Eriksson also defended his decision to play Rooney on the left.
He said: “He played how he plays for Manchester United. He is now starting at the right at Manchester United, now on the left there is no difference.”
Rooney will now be suspended for the next match against Austria next month.
Eriksson added: “Someone has to take his place. I don’t know who that is going to be but we will find one and beat Poland and Austria and win the group.”
Eriksson also believes he can get Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard to play together.
“My job is to help them work together,” he said. “We are talking about three of the best players in the world.
“Lampard is playing where he plays for his club so of course they can play together if they are in good form, have the legs and are physically okay. They have done it many times.
“Remember, though, that Gerrard was coming back from injury.”
Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez believes England’s players have to shoulder part of the blame for the defeat against Ireland.
“Ultimately as a player you play every system going. It is about players wanting to win matches, prepared to put themselves in positions for the benefit of the team.
“The first person everyone looks at is the manager. I am hailed as great manager because of what we have achieved in the last two matches but that can change. For people to talk about changing the England manager in the qualification period is ridiculous. It’s the first qualifying game he has lost and they will qualify.”
