6 September 2005
Sven-Goran Eriksson press conference

England Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson speaks to the press ahead of England's game in Belfast.


On Tuesday Sven-Goran Eriksson spoke in a press briefing ahead of England's game against Northern Ireland in Belfast. TheFA.com brings you the full transcription of what he had to say...

Q: Is Owen ready to play 90 minutes?
If selected, my only concern is that he might not be able to run for 90 minutes. In other ways, he played six of Real Madrid's eight pre-season friendlies, scored goals, and he looks rather fit. But of course, match fit 100 per cent maybe not for 90 minutes

Q:You have always picked Michael and he’s always delivered, hasn’t he?
Yes, I would say so. His goalscoring record is incredible and especially in important, difficult games, he's always been up there.

Q: Owen says he deserves a recall.
If he's fit, he deserves to play and he has always shown that. We will see tomorrow.

Q: Are his best years to come, he’s only 25?
For me, it's enough if he goes on playing for England as he's been doing in the important games we've had since I came to this country. He's always been extremely gifted.

Q: No matter what the tactics are, is the most important thing to get a more convincing performance?
In one way, yes, but the most important thing is to win the game and get three more points. That’s the most important thing when you talk about qualification games. Then I hope we can play better and we will try. I think we will play better, I'm quite sure about that.

Q: Cole played on the left of 4-4-2 against Nothern Ireland at home, is he now an accepted part of side?
Yes, I think I have always picked Joe Cole for the squad, apart from through injury. But since Christmas last season, he has become a very important player as he's more effective attacking-wise and especially defending. He will make part of this squad for as long as he is performing as he does.

Q:You always have option of Shaun Wright-Phillips?
I'm very happy about that. He gives you width and he's doing that very well.

Q: Any injuries?
No, all fit.

Q: You said if Michael is fit he plays
I didn’t say that. I said he deserves to be in the team, but talking about tomorrow I haven’t answered that question. We’ll see.

I don't want to tell you today whether Michael Owen is going to play tomorrow. You can take that how you want but I’m not going to tell you if he’s going to play or not, that’s understandable I think.

Q: Is the England team weaker without Owen?
If Michael Owen is 100 per cent fit and there's a big game, then I think so, yes. He's a goalscorer, he's clever and he's cold in that he's not nervous before big games.

Q: He suffered a bit of rejection at Madrid last year so is important he knows exactly where he stands with England?
Last season, he did well for England. He started every second match or so for Real Madrid but he was always very hungry and very fit. I think it's going to be very important for him to play regular football from Saturday onwards. I think that's going to be good for him.

Q: Are there any areas of the Northern Ireland team that are a threat to you?
Of course I saw the game they played against Azerbaijan and I don't think Azerbaijan had a shot on target in the second half. They did very well. Up front, Quinn is a very good header, while Healy is a busy player. They have two wide players - Gillespie did an excellent game in Saturday and Elliott on the other side is doing very well, with a good left foot and a good header. We will have to have a lot of respect for them, they will not make life easy for us.

Q: It would be an almighty shock if Northern Ireland beat you?
I suppose so, absolutely. We will try to win the game, but Wales and Northern Ireland they will always try to beat England, I think it’s a dream for them to beat England.

Q: Windsor Park is a smaller ground than you’re used to, will that make a difference?
I think it's smaller, yes. And another very important thing is that it's not going to be as hot tomorrow as it was in Cardiff. The pitch in Cardiff is huge and at that temperature, it's difficult to cover all the ground in a good way.

Q: Would you have any qualms about changing a winning team?
Absolutely not. At club level with Lazio, I almost changed every time, rotating as we were in the Champions League.

Q: You were vilified for bringing off Wright-Phillips on Saturday and vilified in Euro 2004 for substitutions. Do you think you are good at that and who makes the subs, you or your staff?
Normally when we are sitting on the bench we talk about technical thins, what’s working well and what’s not. Then if I’m good at it or not, I leave that to you to decide.

Q: Is there a problem getting message across. You said you had to tell Wright-Phillips at half-time to get more wide and the subs didn’t seem to know what was going on? Is that the nature of football that it’s hard to get a message across?
It depends what it is. To be wide shouldn’t be difficult to get out a message if it’s that simple.

Q: And that didn’t happen in the first half?
Well, it happened sometimes. If you look at the tape. We should have been wider all the time but sometimes we did it very well and we created good chances thanks to that.

Q: Gerrard and Lampard are not in top form, how much has getting the best out of them occupied you thoughts?
Very much, to be honest. They are both among the best midfielders in the world, both of them. They are a little bit different. Steven Gerrard is coming back from an injury and played his first game for rather a long time on Saturday. Frank Lampard, if you talk to him, is a slow starter to a season and is not in the best of form. But anyhow, they are that good that they should play anyhow, even if they're not 100 per cent. I think both of them will do better tomorrow than on Saturday.

Q: When did they both play well for england together?
We talked about Northern Ireland, but they have been very good many times. They are two extremely important players for us. They have shown many times that they can play together.

Q: Games seem to be a struggle recently, we don’t pick up momentum?
The defeat against Denmark was bad in the second half but if you think I’m going around thinking about that, absolutely not. That was out of my head almost since the first day I met up with the players again. In football, an opponent always wants to make life difficult for you. I wish you could win with style every time, I wish it was like that but football has never been like that. Sometimes you struggle and, when you struggle, the important thing is to still win and to take the three points and I think we did that on Saturday. And that's good.

Q: Did you see brazil win at weekend? It looks like there is a substantial gap to England?
Well, I'm not worried. I haven't seen the game, although I'll watch the tape in my office. I heard about the game and they also played wonderful football in the final of the Confederations Cup in the summer. But I can't be concerned about that today, we have to qualify for the World Cup and then we must concentrate on Brazil and all the other teams that will be there.

Q: Can England reach that level?
Yes. For sure, Brazil are the most technical team in the world but football is not only about technique. We were almost there four years ago and if England have to meet Brazil again, they would not have an easy game against us.

Q: Frank Lampard said in the paper he doesn’t think he’s had a slow start to the season?
I don’t know what is in the papers but talked to him yesterday about it and he agreed.

Q: What is the solution?
The solution? That is to just go on playing and working. He will very soon be in top form and there he will stay until after the World Cup, that’s Frank Lampard.

Q: What is Rooney’s best position?
I asked him and he said 'I don't know', so that's it!

Q: Is that helpful to you?
It is, it is!

Wayne Rooney had a great impact, even on Saturday, and with a bit of luck, he could have scored two goals. He was important. Where is his best position? Maybe second striker, maybe a bit outside right, as he plays for Manchester United today, or outside left, or at the top of a diamond behind two strikers. He can do everything. He played up front on Saturday and he did a very good job for us. I know where he's going to play tomorrow and he will know very soon.

I think Wayne Rooney is happy to play football and it really doesn't matter to him where he plays. I saw that he said he could play at centre-half and I'm not sure about that though! He's doing a great job for Manchester United, whether right, left or behind the strikers.

Q: Is it true you are going to watch the Ashes on Friday?
Maybe, I have to cancel other things.

Cricket is a great sport in England and some other countries. If you are a Swede, living in Sweden, Portugal, Italy then you don’t know very much about cricket, I have to say. I don’t know all the rules yet. If I can go Friday I will try to learn that.

Q: Do you know any of the players?
I met the captain a couple of times, he spoke to me. Very nice man, tall. Very good. I don’t understand cricket very much and I don’t try to.

Q: Who is your favourite player?
I don’t know that, I’m sorry.

Q: Beckham was criticised after Wales game by ex-players and other pundits, did it surprise you?
After more than four years in this country, nothing surprises me any more, but don't tell me that I understand it, because I don't. That David Beckham's legs have gone and he can't run any more? If that's your opinion, I think you are bicycling! He's the fittest player in Real Madrid and he's one of the fittest in the England squad at this moment.

Q: Alan Hansen says he couldn't play defensive role against big teams?
I think he did very well on Saturday, defensively and attacking-wise.

Q: Would you play him there against Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals?
I think he can do it. It's not fair to compare him to Makelele as they are two different players. If you want a sitting midfielder like Makelele, that's one thing. But if you want a sitting midfielder like Pirlo, who has done it for Milan for two-and-a-half years, then that's another thing.

Q: Will the formation against Wales ever be used again or was it a one-off?
I don't think it will be a one-time experiment. It's not that far away from a diamond. With the system we used on Saturday, you have more width. We have always played the diamond very well, but to play that, I believe all three central midfielders must be very fit as they have to cover a lot of ground. Maybe at this moment, we don't have that situation.

Q: Do you have any concerns at bringing team to Belfast with rioting in the city?
No, absolulely not. Not at all.