Sven-Goran Eriksson warns England players they ‘cannot act like divas’ if they want World Cup glory
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Sven-Goran Eriksson warns England players they ‘can’t act like divas’ if they want World Cup glory… as the ex-Three Lions boss insists Gareth Southgate is doing ‘great work’ despite pressure to succeed in Qatar
- England start their World Cup campaign in less than three weeks
- Sven-Goran Eriksson believes Gareth Southgate is ‘doing a great job’ in the lead
- But the Swede has warned England’s players to stick together in Qatar
- He feels that if they start acting like ‘divas’ it could stop the team from going all the way
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Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has warned the current squad not to act like ‘divas or stars’ in Qatar if they want to go all out at the World Cup.
In his six years at the helm, Southgate led England to the World Cup semi-finals and the European Championship final, losing to Italy on penalties at Wembley. However, they have not won any of their last six games heading into this year’s tournament.
Despite mounting pressure on Southgate, Eriksson believes the 52-year-old is ‘doing a great job’. He has praised the England manager for bringing the squad together and believes maintaining this cohesion is key if the Three Lions are to succeed at the World Cup.
Sven-Goran Eriksson has said England’s players should not act like ‘divas’ in Qatar
Gareth Southgate under pressure to succeed, but Eriksson thinks he’s ‘doing great job’
When asked for his thoughts on Southgate, Eriksson told Sky Sports: “He’s doing a great job. It’s very good to have a lot of stars on the team, but they can’t act like divas and stars. They have to be one of the 26 players, that’s important.
“And they have to work together, they have to help and respect each other, whatever you are, what club you come from, how much money you make. You’re here to make England great, and I think Southgate is doing that.’
With the World Cup less than three weeks away, Southgate is sweating the fitness of some key players, with Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kalvin Phillips all currently offside.
Eriksson knows what it’s like to deal with injuries so close to a tournament, and he has complained about his fortune since he was in charge of England.
Eriksson knows what it’s like to lose at the World Cup after being beaten twice in the last eight with England
“The three major tournaments where I was in charge, we were unlucky with injuries. The first was Beckham. The second in Portugal was Michael Owen, and the third was that Rooney was injured before,” he continued.
“And of course they are three key players for England, key players I would say. So a bit of bad luck.’
With England not yet winning any of their matches in the recent Nations League campaign, England may not confidently enter the World Cup.
Eriksson has hinted, however, that this may not necessarily matter as he has admitted that he fully expected England to make it to the World Cup final when he was in the dugout in 2006, only to see his side stutter to the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Portugal.
Speaking of that tournament in Germany, Eriksson added: “We weren’t brilliant. But before the tournament and during the tournament I was pretty sure we would make it to the final. Because I couldn’t see a better team than us in that tournament.’