The England squad that I took to Germany for the 2006 World Cup is called the ‘Golden Generation’. We had some great players, but I think that today’s England squad is better. We had a brilliant starting XI in 2006 – Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, David Beckham, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand – but the group has more options now. Gareth Southgate can play Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling or Jack Grealish. He has no major injuries to deal with: in 2002, I lost Beckham; in 2004 I had no Owen; and in 2006, Rooney wasn’t 100 per cent fit.
If I could choose one player from the current England team to have had in 2006, though, it would be Harry Kane. He’s a fighter. Against Iran, he didn’t score, but he created for his teammates. He is an astonishing player. I’ve never seen England start a World Cup better than they did on Monday. Iran were not the best opponents, but it was a complete performance. Every single player was fantastic. I was most surprised by Jude Bellingham. We knew that he was a good player and had been doing well for Borussia Dortmund, but his performance was perfect. If England can keep this up for five or six more games, they will be difficult to beat.
In 2006, we should have got to the final. We could have won it. I couldn’t see any team better than us. That’s not to say that we were outstanding, but we were as good as anyone else. It was a huge disappointment, and still is. There is too much negativity around the Golden Generation. A couple of years after I left the England job, I heard reports that players were taking their club rivalries into the camp at the World Cup. I didn’t see anything like that. To put on the England shirt is such an honour, and from what I could see, everyone who wore it was very proud to do so.
It’s a shame about the way my time in England ended. The News of the World used a reporter – known as the ‘fake Sheikh’ – to sting me. After his Sunday splash, I was called to the office on Monday morning by Brian Barwick, who was chief executive of the FA. After the World Cup, he said, it’s finished. I said that I had a contract. What if I won the World Cup? ‘Finished,’ he said. The News of the World had been running the country, now it was running the FA, I said. He told me he wanted to sleep on Sunday mornings, not deal with the press. I would have definitely been sacked after the 2006 World Cup for football reasons, but that would have been far better. I had no problem with the football press: it was the news press that created problems. When people listen to your mobile phone for years, they make you feel like a criminal. I don’t think I’ve ever been a criminal. Before England, I worked in Portugal, Sweden and Italy. They wouldn’t care about your private life, but they would kill you if you didn’t win football games. That seemed fair to me.
I’m sure Qatar will host this tournament as well as it can. If the tiny nation has anything, it has money. But this World Cup has been a mistake – one which Fifa surely cannot repeat. You cannot play a tournament of this importance in November or December. Who takes holiday in November? Normally, people in Europe can leave work and watch the game. Now, there are games at ten o’clock in the morning. Who’s going to see those? Adults are at work, and young people are at school.
There are rumours that Southgate will be sacked if England don’t live up to their potential. I have some advice for him on that one: don’t take the news too seriously. When I was Manchester City manager, I was sacked in Thailand. I had breakfast with my boss who told me: ‘Sven, it’s finished.’ I asked him: ‘Why?’ He just said: ‘I have a feeling in my stomach.’ Afterwards, I went outside and one of my City players, Didi Hamann, was sitting there. I said to him: ‘Didi, I just got sacked. Do you want a glass of champagne?’ It was 11 o’clock in the morning. But, I thought, I can’t go out crying. Didi claims that I told him that I wanted to retire in Thailand with two beautiful women. I can’t remember, but who knows?
It’s not retirement for me yet, however. I am talking about becoming the sporting director at Karlstad, a third division team about an hour’s drive from my home in Sweden. The goal is to go up a division, perhaps even two. Driving in Sweden at this time of year is beautiful. Everything is white outside.
Comments