Eriksson works on England's mental condition

For once Sven Goran Eriksson could have done with an injury. It would have provided a distraction. Instead he had yesterday to account for England's grim performance against Sweden in Saitama on Sunday.

His first reaction was patriotism, evidently the response of beleaguered football managers, as well as scoundrels, although it sounded suspiciously like insincere flattery given his Swedish nationality. Invoking the Queen's golden jubilee, from which we are otherwise mercifully insulated in Japan, he tub-thumped as boldly as his predecessor Kevin Keegan ever did. "Maybe it is the Queen who should be making the speech, not me," he said, adding: "I would say to the nation that the English are famous for never giving up. So we should not give up on the World Cup after drawing our first match."

He then revealed his solution was just as simplistic. "It is more important to lift the players mentally than to decide whether to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. You must have the right mentality. If you feel you are losers you are going to lose."

Eriksson is right to stress the importance of a positive mental attitude. The players were so downcast on Sunday only David Seaman bothered to applaud the impressively large gathering of travelling fans in the Saitama Stadium. On that subject Eriksson said he would remind them of their responsibilities.

However, it is disingenuous to claim the mood of the team is unrelated to the way he is asking them to play. In the past two seasons, the likes of Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves, David Beckham, Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand have shown in the Champions' League that they are quite capable of playing patient, passing football.

Eriksson, not trusting them to retain the ball in their own half, instructs his team to play a long-ball game. By definition this reduces the likelihood of keeping the ball, every pass becoming, at best, a 60-40 ball – especially, as against Sweden, when it is aimed at Michael Owen's head rather than his feet. Yet as Eriksson himself admitted later: "It all falls down in football if you can't keep the ball."

While every passing game in this competition confirms the poverty of imagination displayed at Saitama, and the mood is subsequently turning against Eriksson, we should not rush to final judgement. England are far from out. This ugly duckling may yet become a swan.

The precedent is Cagliari, 1990, when England were savaged by critics worldwide after an appalling 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland in their opening World Cup game. The Sun suggested the team should be called home to spare further embarrassment, La Gazzetta dello Sport, of Italy, ran the headline "No football please, we're English", and a watching Brazilian commented: "Why do you call it football? In England it is airball."

In Sardinia, as in Saitama, a turgid match reflected badly on the British game that employed the bulk of the players on both sides. Our football seemed years behind that played on the Continent and South America, a comparison that now includes Africa. Yet England went on to the semi-finals, where they performed with distinction in a match of high quality. The Irish reached the last eight, where they worried Italy.

A similar recovery is not beyond England but it may, as in 1990, require a change in tactics. Then Bobby Robson, reputedly at the request of his players, drafted in Mark Wright as sweeper.

Eriksson has the personnel to enact a similar shift this time. Ferdinand has the tools required to sweep behind Gareth Southgate and Sol Campbell while Danny Mills and Ashley Cole are better-suited to wing-back than full-back. Beckham, Hargreaves and Scholes would provide a tight midfield axis with Owen and, ideally, Robbie Fowler in attack.

However, Eriksson is no more likely to drop the idea of a back-four than England's Japanese hosts are to drop litter. The formation change he is contemplating for the Argentina match is that of playing 4-3-3 with Owen leading the line and two from Darius Vassell, Emile Heskey and Kieron Dyer on the flanks. Nicky Butt is under consideration for a midfield place.

A better change would be to introduce Southgate for Campbell who, notwithstanding his goal, gave an uncertain performance against Sweden. One reason England defended too deeply is that no defender had the personality and experience to drive them forward. Southgate, a good organiser, could have done that.

Unlike 1990, when Robson was grateful for the emergence of David Platt after Bryan Robson was forced out the tournament through injury, Eriksson should at least be able to draw on his captain. Beckham, he claimed, would be fit to play 90 minutes on Friday. "The foot is OK, but he is tired," said Eriksson. "Things certainly didn't get any better for us when he came off, but it might have been dangerous to let him stay on."

Eriksson said he expected yesterday's criticism. "The rules in football are simple," he said, "you must win. But it is not all champagne and roses. If that is what you want, you should change profession. It is a sport, you have to take the difficult things and try to sort them out."

That he will attempt to do on the Tsuna training pitch tomorrow. First the players have been encouraged to clear their minds. Today is a day off with golf on many agendas. Last night they went shopping. Unconfirmed reports suggest Owen bought a stepladder and Scholes a set of binoculars.