England justify Eriksson's prudence
World Cup Qualifier: Businesslike victory achieves mission despite defensive weaknesses and absence of Munich style
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Your support makes all the difference.In the surreal glow of Munich's Olympic Stadium last Saturday night the England coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, spelled it out so deliberately he might have been teaching in a junior schoolroom. He said it once, and then he repeated it. "I have not said we will win the World Cup," he declared.
Here Eriksson's prudence shone rather more brilliantly than the men who devastated Germany in an outpouring of pure aggression. Eriksson was emphatic that he did not feel England were four goals better than Germany and last night he would have found no argument with the belief that they were scarcely two goals superior to the impoverish but skilled footballers of Albania.
Indeed, when David Seaman again rallied his old but still superbly defiant instincts to deny a wickedly dipping shot from Edvin Murati he may well have been also turning away the greatest anti-climax in the history of the national game. The truth was that if Eriksson could guard so effectively against triumphalism, he could not so quickly repair a defence whose weaknesses were so spectacularly screened by England's sheer potency in Munich.
Once again only Gary Neville, the man who so recently seemed under most pressure for his place, brought a consistent assurance to his work. Out of circumstances, he was less visible in attack than in Germany but his presence was almost always calming. This couldn't be said of that of either of the central defenders, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell, and the assumption that young Ashley Cole had become a fixture along the left may require more than a little revision.
Cole often looked badly stretched at the breakdown of his attacking initiatives and in the middle there were times when Ferdinand and Campbell looked in need of a formal introduction. Afterwards, Eriksson readily conceded that there were times near the end when his defence looked more seriously stretched than in Munich. This had much to do with the invention and fire of men like Fatmir Vata and the combative Murati. Eriksson, in his massaging mode, also offered the thought that maybe the intensity of post-Munich reaction had somewhat drained his players. Maybe, maybe not. The reality, however you approached it, was that England had been forcibly reminded of their coach's recurring point that they still had much work to do if they are to seriously compete with the likes of France and Argentina and Italy in South Korea and Japan next summer.
Some things, though, do not change and included among them is Michael Owen's unerring ability to find a way to goal. His strike late in the first half did not create the kind of momentum that was achieved in the Olympic Stadium but it was still more evidence that he has become utterly central to England's belief in themselves. It was his 14th goal in 22 international starts, a rate of devastation which already is bringing a dwarf-like quality to Bobby Charlton's record mark of 49 goals. Owen, it is so frequently necessary to remind ourselves, is still just 21 years of age.
His Liverpool team-mate Robbie Fowler, who replaced Emile Heskey early in the second half and scored the goal that soothed the nation's nerves in the 86th minute, is rather older but his capacity in front of goal is often no less insistent than Owen's. He took his chance with the aplomb of the natural goalscorer he is, and as he did in Athens in the early summer he again made a powerful case to Eriksson that he is the natural partner to his young club team-mate.
Certainly Eriksson must dream of having the options at the back that he enjoys so plentifully up front. In the midfield, the selection is quite automatic until you reach the left side, where Nick Barmby's impact was slight and Steve McManaman's second-half appearance did nothing to suggest an instant remedy. It no doubt means that Eriksson will continue to resist any idea that England are taking some grand highway to the World Cup finals.
What they have achieved, from the wreckage of defeat by Germany at Wembley and the most infertile of goalless draws in Helsinki, remains a remarkable feat and if last night's work never began to touch the explosive grandeur of the victory over Germany, Eriksson might have delivered still another lecture along the lines that sometimes it doesn't matter whether you win pretty or win ugly, winning is the thing.
Captain David Beckham agreed that certainly it wasn't pretty and his co-worker in midfield Steve Gerrard was in no position to celebrate the win with the hauteur that led him into mockery of his Liverpool team-mate Dietmar Hamman in Munich. Gerrard left early, but not before again producing some passing of the highest class and penetration.
Beckham fought in a way that, hopefully, is habit-forming. For the moment, though, his coach can rest assured that the hubris is on hold.
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