Pundits blast Eriksson tactics
Sven-Goran Eriksson came under fire from a trio of former international stars despite England's winning start to their World Cup campaign.
Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Alan Hansen all hit out at Eriksson and especially his decision to substitute Michael Owen against Paraguay.
England won their opening game 1-0 but the Swede still came under fire from the BBC pundits.
Former England skipper Shearer, who retired from football last month, said: “It was unbelievable.
“We were getting joy in the first half by hitting Peter Crouch, with Michael Owen picking up the pieces and either Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard running on.
“As soon as Owen came off, the only way we could play it was into Joe Cole’s feet. Paraguay quickly sussed that and put us on the back foot, inviting pressure.
“Sven brought Theo Walcott as a centre forward but when he took Michael Owen off and put Joe Cole in Michael’s place, Walcott must have been on the bench thinking: ‘There’s a midfielder in my position’.
“Eriksson probably doesn’t think he’s ready at this moment in time, but if that’s the case, why take him in the first place?”
Shearer’s complaints were echoed by his fellow-experts on Match of the Day and BBC online.
Ex-England striker Wright said: “We really lost an opportunity to send out a message that we mean business, to let people know that we’re here to win this competition.
“That was a very negative performance in the second half. I want to see Michael Owen play 90 minutes and, hopefully, score a goal. What sort of message does that send out to your main striker if you take him off after 55 minutes?
“I don’t know if it was a throwback to Eriksson’s Italian days where you get a goal and defend it, but the decision to substitute Michael was so negative.
“In the second half we handed over the impetus to Paraguay. Why don’t we play our normal Premiership game?”
Scot Hansen praised England’s first-half performance but branded Eriksson’s substitutions “appalling”.
Hansen said: “The first half was absolutely magnificent but in the second half it was bitty, disjointed and the tactics were all over the place.
“Sven-Goran Eriksson’s substitutions in the 2002 World Cup were poor, at Euro 2004 I thought they were appalling and against Paraguay he got it completely wrong again.
“If you’re under pressure you need an outlet, somebody to hit to hold it up and that will eventually alleviate the pressure. England were getting deeper and deeper because there was no-one to hit up front.
“It’s easy possession for the opposition, they get a bit of confidence and before you know it you’re hanging on.
“It all goes back to this issue of not taking Jermain Defoe. If you’re taking Michael Owen off it should be like for like – off goes Owen and on comes Defoe.”
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