Reality checks in at the Paradise Hotel

World Cup 2002: Dyer's arrival may signal change in fortunes as Eriksson prepares for combat with compatriots

England arrived at their pre-World Cup training base on South Korea's volcanic island of Cheju last night, with Sven Goran Eriksson preaching the virtues of self-sufficiency. This will be a World Cup in which England live or perish by their players' own personal initiative.

Already it is evident there will be no motivational speeches from the Swede in the build-up to England's first game against his countrymen in a fortnight, no call to arms for those involved and no arm round the shoulder for those omitted. Certainly no laying-on of hands by Sweden's equivalent of Eileen Drewery.

At training sessions, Eriksson will continue to spectate from the sidelines and there will be a minimum of intervention on his part before games. Eriksson regards his experienced players as professionals, who should be capable of quietly and efficiently carrying out anything his coaching staff ask them to do without the need for his personal encouragement.

"Motivate?" he repeated the word with apparent distaste. "If I have to motivate just one of the 23 players, I have picked the wrong squad. That's for sure. If you are not motivated to go out to a World Cup then you should not be there. If I have something to tell a player, or if I am not happy with a player, I will speak with him. But I will not have discussions with players about what I want them to do or not, if it's not necessary."

He added: "I don't think you should sit next to a player 24 hours a day and tell them what to do, or what not to do. That's too much. I shouldn't like to have a manager doing that to me. If I was player, I'd say, 'Just tell me what to do, and I will do it. If I have a problem, only then will I want to talk to the manager'."

Problems so far are confined to injury and estimated times of recovery. Images of the captain David Beckham, attempting to regain his fitness in Dubai last week, together with the sight of a smiling Kieron Dyer of Newcastle United before he joined up with the squad, have brought some relief to Eriksson, who has already lost Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville.

Hundreds of black-clad police commandoes cordoned off the island's only airport, allowing in a small cortege of Cheju officials who unfurled a banner: "Welcome the England National Football Team!" They presented wreaths of flowers to Beckham, Eriksson and his assistant Tord Grip. Teenagers, some wearing Manchester United kits, yelled, "Beckham!" and banners greeted the team along roads that run through tangerine groves.

Neither Beckham nor Dyer will play in Tuesday's friendly against South Korea and it is unlikely either will be ready to face Cameroon in England's final friendly in Kobe on Sunday. Moreover, the suspicion remains that if either player is rushed back prematurely it could prove counter-productive.

Eriksson prefers not to dwell on those players who have been lost to him, or those who might be absent. "You must never cry about what you cannot do anything about," he said.

I put it to him that, indeed, he could actually use these setbacks in a positive way. That he could say to those who may not have otherwise started, players such as Joe Cole or Owen Hargreaves in midfield, Danny Mills or Wes Brown in defence: "Now you can make a name for yourselves on the world stage".

"I hope I get that kind of healthy reaction from the players who come in [for those who are injured]," agreed Eriksson, clenching his fist in unusually demonstrative fashion. "That they will say, 'I will show the world that I can do that job'." If further reinforcements are required now they will be recruited from the Under-21s squad currently competing in the European Championship in Switzerland. Eriksson named Blackburn's David Dunn and West Ham's Jermain Defoe as possible recruits.

The two friendlies in the next eight days are merely designed to bring his squad up to a fine pitch for the main event. But it is that opening Group F game, Eriksson's homeland against his adopted land, in Saitama, which will have been dominating his thoughts. The teams have met before since his appointment, when England played Sweden in a post-qualification friendly at Old Trafford, which finished 1-1. But that was a gentlemanly affair, in which neither Celtic's Henrik Larsson nor Barcelona's Patrik Andersson played. They represent two of the three players Eriksson most admires in Tommy Soderberg's squad.

The other, inevitably, is Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg. "He's had a marvellous season," said the England coach. "It was very nice to watch Arsenal when they had Ljungberg and [Robert] Pires, when they moved so quickly and well on the ball. It's difficult to find another player who can do those intelligent runs without the ball into the box. With Ljungberg, it doesn't happen once in 45 minutes. It happens 10 times in every game. And he scores as well."

Eriksson refused to say whether there would be a tactical attempt directly to negate Ljungberg's threat, "but you have always to pay attention to the runs he makes". That said, it would be no surprise if Owen Hargreaves or Nicky Butt was not detailed specifically to maintain a watchful eye on Sweden's most in-form player in an England midfield whose composition ­ in Gerrard's absence ­ will cause Eriksson most concern.

He was asked about the possibility of Beckham moving into the centre. "I think Beckham could do it, but playing 4-4-2 he's not used to that," Eriksson said. "Playing 4-3-3 he has done it more times, I guess. Then it might be a possibility, yes."

The England coach was asked how much Gerrard's absence and the doubts over Dyer had altered his opinion that England could become world champions. "Of course, it's possible to win the World Cup, but you know as well as me that it's extremely difficult. There are 32 teams and one will win it. It's easier to win the league in any country than win the World Cup. You must be lucky and we haven't started in a good way." Eriksson is a strong believer that luck will be a major contributor, or otherwise, to England's progress.

"Take [our match against] Germany away. It's incredible how Germany didn't score to make it 2-1," he explained. "But they didn't. They didn't take that chance. That's football. We took it when we had the chance to score to make it 2-1. We were lucky." Things would have been different if they'd have scored? "Probably. Maybe we would have won anyway... perhaps 6-2?" He laughed. "No, when you are 1-1 at the end of a half, and you take the lead that gives you a great advantage mentally. And the opposite, of course."

Certainly, the recent fortunes of an England team currently staying at the Paradise Hotel on Cheju are due an improvement. Their base is normally a sanctuary for honeymooners. Eriksson's has just finished. Now comes the real test of his ability to sustain a relationship.