England's second-half concerns from bbc

Poor second-half performances have been as much a trademark of Sven-Goran Eriksson's England reign as tabloid stings and affairs.

And so it was again on Tuesday. After playing well and taking a first-half lead against Sweden, England were transformed into a timid and disorganised team after the break and had to cling on for a draw.

The pattern was all too familiar to England fans, who had seen second-half capitulations against France at Euro 2004 and, most notably, against Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup.

After that match in Shizuoka, Gareth Southgate famously criticised Eriksson's half-time team talk, saying, "What we needed in there was Churchill, but what we got was Iain Duncan Smith".

So, can we expect Eriksson to inspire the players with fire and passion later in the knock-out stages in Germany?

Not according to former England defender Danny Mills, who played in that 2-1 defeat in Japan and is in Germany as a summariser for BBC radio.

"He'll be exactly the same in every game," Mills told Five Live Sport.

"The trouble is he's very, very quiet. He's a man of very, very few words - you really don't know what he's thinking.

"Going back to what Gareth said in his book, I don't even remember what was said during half-time or how it was said. I think that probably speaks volumes.

"Had it have been a rant and rave and a real 'come on lads, let's get going', I think I would have remembered it."

In his autobiography, Robbie Fowler was even more forthright in his criticism of Eriksson's half-time performance in Japan.

"Everything I suspected about Eriksson was shown in that match," he wrote.

"At half-time you could see the faces of our players - they were shell-shocked.

"But it was still only 1-1 and it was time for the manager to get to work, change the tactics and instil some belief.

"He said absolutely nothing, just stood there with a startled look on his face.

"We just rolled over and died. There was no team spirit, no fight, no togetherness. And the manager didn't say a word."

Yet it seems unfair to criticise Eriksson for the cool detachment which was lauded early in his England career.

Tub thumping has never been the Swede's style and never will be. It wasn't when he took Benfica to the European Cup final in 1990 or when he won the Italian double with Lazio in 2000.

As the Swede himself says: "I have been angry sometimes with England, but I cannot be Winston Churchill in the dressing room. That would not be me."

He insists he does feel pride and emotion, but in his own understated way.

"When I hear the National Anthem, see all the flags, I freeze," he told BBC Sport in April 2004.

"I want the fans to be proud of the team. It's the biggest football job in the world - it's emotional."

Eriksson's predecessor, Kevin Keegan, exhibited the passion and charisma that the Swede is often criticised for lacking, but his short reign was hardly a success.

The problem could be the lack of a vociferous motivator elsewhere within the England set-up.

Eriksson's assistant, Steve McClaren, has a huge influence in the camp - "he used to take all the coaching and all the sessions when I was involved," says Mills - but is not renowned for charisma.

Captain David Beckham is also, obviously, a major figure in the camp, but perhaps not a big presence.

So it could be down to some of the other senior players to provide the rousing call to arms that has been asked for. Step forward John Terry, Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard?

 

Well the England defence, man for man, is as good as you're going to find in the world cup - you can look at Italy or Argentina or Holland or whoever. The way they played as a unit against Swedem second half - chuff me - it was like they'd never met. It was worse than pub football (basic corners, basic long throw ins - English football). Whose job is it to take the individuals and make them a team? The manager. The buck stops with the manager. A great player like Sol Campbell came on and looked awful - he should be able to slot in. Sven's already saying 'It was the players'. The man p*sses me off, he gets 5 million a year, he got a £100,000 bonus for getting out of the group stages(!) and he's got no backbone. There's no sense of responsibility or caring from him. He just keeps his hand out, takes the money, and he knows, at the end of the tournament, he goes home rich, and he doesn't have to face the music.

What genuinely gets to me is that Sven is a complete charlatan. He'd go to the highest bidder - he's been caught up in the whole fake sheik thing - and it is proven that he can't get the players up for the second half (France, Brazil, Portugal, Sweden the list goes on). You look across at the Australian management team - Van Haal and Neeskins - they won't be on five million a year between them, and look at the desire that team has, look at the courage and the attitude. The English FA are god awful, there's such a lack of imagination or any kind of vision.

Rant over.