Sven on Shaun
Friday, 04 March, 2005
Sven-Göran Eriksson on Shaun Wright-Phillips' injury and the four week break before Germany 2006.
Sven-Göran Eriksson has admitted that losing Shaun Wright-Phillips for this month's double header is a blow but insists that the four-week break at the end of the next domestic season is a massive boost to the nation's hopes of success in Germany 2006.
Manchester City star Wright-Phillips, who won his first England start against Holland last month, has undergone an operation on his knee and is expected to be out for six to eight weeks.
Sven revealed in an exclusive TheFA.com interview that Wright-Phillips would have been a certainty for the squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland at Old Trafford and Azerbaijan at St James' Park later this month. And he is adamant the winger will still play a big part in England's campaign.
He said: "It's bad news. But there is some good news, because it's not serious and after the operation he will be back.
"He's one big talent in English football and he's had a marvellous season. When I heard about it, I phoned him up straight away. He's played very well for City and England. I'm sorry about it.
"He should have been in the squad for sure. He can dribble past people and his crosses have been very good. But he's not available.
"Whether that will mean a change from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, I'll keep that for myself."
Sven also spoke for the first time about changes to next year's FA Cup, which see the Final played on Saturday 13 May to allow England the four-week preparation window ahead of Germany 2006. And he said it would enhance England's hopes of victory.
He added: "I'm extremely happy and I should say thank you to all the people who sorted it out.
"To have the same preparation as all the other countries is important. It would have been very difficult to have one week less.
"It's FIFA's decision to have a longer break and I understand it. They want to have a great World Cup where the best players can perform as well as they can.
"There have been a lot of reports from FIFA and UEFA about it. That the top quality players in the world - not just England - did not perform as expected in the last two big tournaments.
"The world wants to see Zidane, Henry and Beckham performing at 100 per cent on the biggest stage in football."
Sven believes the changes will mean England's preparations vary slightly to those before Korea/Japan 2002.
"What will happen with England is everyone will have one week off," he said. "Then the second week will be a training camp. In the third week we will play a couple of friendlies then the final week we will travel to Germany.
"There will be no need to acclimatise so we will stay in Europe - possibly even in England.
"The FA Cup is the most important competition in England and it's the oldest in the world.
"But this solution is a must if we want to compete against the best countries in the world."