Lol. Since 66 any WC record good or bad was what England were craving for. Even if it meant ruining a bright 16 year olds prospective career for the sake of being a nation to field the youngest WC debutant 🤣😂🤣😂
Actually Defoe thought that he was going. A few months before the team selection he was guest on some cooking show where they were cooking together with a chef. He was talking like he was already selected for the final squad.
@@altruistic3276 better than a 16 year old who's played 10 games. Just because he's not a household name doesn't mean he couldn't do a job. His goalscoring record proved it.
If Sven was honest with himself he'd agree he was wrong with that call... Defoe could really have nicked an important goal I feel. Player number 23 could really have won England an important game... I think it's stupid to suggest that any professional footballer picked for England couldn't have made a meaningful contribution... Players like Joey Barton, Jermain jenas, kieron dyer, Lee bowyer wouldn't have been the first name on the team sheet, but they could very well have scored against Portugal.. clearly he's not a manager that boosts his players morale
@@kpwand a lot of times a player can play a lot better with a certain set of players around them, and I feel Defoe has a lot of qualities that would've complimented the 06 team.
@@RaseYourProbs Defoe played in the entire '06 qualifying campaign. I think if he was completely overlooked, it's a fair question. But he had a good look at him and said that his league form was poor... which it was.
@@kpwand you may be right... But surely you can't say having Walcott there instead of him was better? Who'd England have in 06? James Beattie? Kevin Davies? Not that they are great strikers but wouldn't they have been a better option than Walcott?
Putting a player with just 13 professional appearances in a World Cup squad because of a bit of hype over the likes of proven in form goalscorers such as Defoe and Bent was a ridiculous decision, especially when you consider the fact he didn’t play him even for one minute and seemingly was never going to
We know Bent or Defoe were much more likely to score than Theo. Defoe should have gone in my opinion, he could score from anywhere at any given moment.
Two injured strikers plus Crouch and Walcott !! Darren Bent was the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier that season and wasn’t even considered. Erickson as a football manager is like me as Governor of the Bank of England.
@@jacknapier6668 there were several players who didn't play at All for germany in the world cup like draxler who was the 23th man. Don't mention Götze at the beginning of the tournament he started games as a striker only after 2 or games klose replaced him as a starting striker
Sven was absolutely clueless. He had the best squad we'd had for years. His tactics were rigid and outdated. 4 4 2 didn't work anymore. He took an injured Rooney who clearly wasn't fit to play. We played with no style, identity or passion
Robert Nettleship You people could have gone a 4-1-2-1-2 with there being a CDM in Scholes, CAM in Lampard, Rooney the target man and somebody like Owen or Defoe the poacher. Gerrard could play either CDM or CAM. Hargreaves could play CDM as well and a younger Scholes could also play the CAM role as well.
Account User Rooney??? A target man?????? Rooney game is nothing like a target man. Plus Scholes doesn’t do enough defensively to play as cdm neither did he have the fitness to play there
Defore was a goal poacher Theo has spent most of his career on the wing so goals isn’t a great way to compare them. Without injuries Walcott could’ve been a top class player. He just started to score goals and show his potential at 23 before he had serious injury after serious injury. He was never the same afterwards. But sure Defoe would’ve won us the World Cup lol
@Repent man He's right though. International football is about the best of one country against the best of another country. From the head coach down to the tea lady....otherwise what's the point? From a remain voter.
He was a really clueless managet and still clueless to this day. The fact of the matter is every single player in your world cup squad should be selected because they can contribute. He's now stating player number 23 can't win you a world cup.
Growing up in football I've always heard my coaches tell me everyone in the team has something to contribute... Then now I hear Sven tell me my coaches probably never had the faith in me to win them anything 🤣🤣
Thanks to the host for checking Sven. I was going to ask about Schillaci in 1990, Rossi in 1982. There are a lot of players in world cup history that went to the tournament not as the main man but delivered on the big stage.
@Boring Name I was talking about players that perform way above expectations at a tournament. You know, good enough to make the team but nothing great was expected from them. They then go and have a hell of a tournament.
I remember there was a cooking show on tv a few weeks before the england selection was announced. Defoe was the guest and while they were cooking Defoe talked about how he can't wait to play for the team. I think he was almost convinced that he was going and then SVEN takes fecking TIO
Love the fact Defoe is STILL PLAYING TOP FLIGHT FOOTBALL...isn’t he banging in goals for our Stevie G’s Rangers?! ROFL Walcott sorry loved ya but you’re no Defoe!!!
Well Sven's strategy of taking one for the future worked out. Theo Walcott went on to become one of the greatest strikers in an England shirt and played in lots of tournaments.....
Defoe wasn’t playing every week but he was proven in the premier league. Walcott wasn’t ready he played few games at Southampton. What is Sven on about. Defoe was scoring goals pick him
I still don't think Sven gets enough stick for what a crap job he did with England. Gareth Southgate is getting to World Cup semi-finals and playing much better football with a squad that has about 50% of the ability of the players Sven had to work with.
I like Sven but he's talking out of his arse about this. You had Defoe, Darren Bent, reborn Fowler, Heskey, Sheringham(still flying at West ham), Andy Cole at City, in-form Andy Johnson at Palace(championship) in all goalscorers, all capable of coming off the bench and laying a ball off and poaching one. Big mistake, just admit it.
Ian Tuohy couldn’t be more wrong. Yes we have some great foreign talent in the Premier League, but we also have some great English talent aswell, every club does
@@jamieosullivan2684 And that "great English talent" will forever be capped if clubs continue to sell themselves out to the Chinese (Wolves) and Arabs (Man City), who could care less about domestic development.
Both Bent and Defoe were ahead of Theo Walcott in pecking order but no Sven wanted to pick "an exciting young who was going to come on as a substitute set the tournament alight". He did not even feature in a minute in the tournament. What's mind boggling is that he claims that the only thing he should have done differently was bringing in a "mental coach". Really? The only thing?? being adamant that both Lampard and Gerrard have to play together even if they unperformed or didn't suite the balance of team (take Fabregas's explain for Spain), not making Paul Scholes the focal point in midfield (even Capello realised this when he tried to change Scholesy's mind about retirement), overlooking players performances in the season; he must have thought both Rooney and Owen were 100% fit even that's being naive
Effectively Sven said in this clip that he called up Walcott just so he could watch the World Cup and see how the tournament operates for when he's older and more experienced to actually play in one. So, he gave Walcott a World Cup apprenticeship? What was this man doing anywhere near England's dugout.
The problem wasnt picking Walcott as such, given the options. The problem was picking Walcott and then refusing to play him for the entirety of the tournament. Utterly mindboggling. If he had that little faith in Walcott why pick him?
@@Ayanokoji021 Barkley, maddison and grealish have prior experience. Tornaments. Premier league etc..Theo Walcott didnt have any in the premier league at that time. Not a good example.
I was so angry when Sven chose Walcott over Defoe and he still can’t accept he made a ridiculous decision. Defoe was playing for Spurs, scoring and in another league to Walcott. If Defoe has gone, we could’ve gone further in World Cup for sure
I’m Mexican bro but that England squad was the best chance you guys had, with so much world class national teams back then (more than now) it is very unfortunate you guys couldn’t win at least 1 title w that team full of legends.
I was wondering what reason he had not to pick Defoe that year. He actually had a very down year compared to normal only scoring 9 goals. However Darren Bent scored 18 so there was a good alternative
Unlucky? Like bringing and not playing a 17 year old with no experience instead of someone like Defoe or Bent who might've knicked a goal off the bench that's unlucky?.Thats not unlucky its dumb.
We'd seen English wonderkids go to previous tournaments and make a name for themselves. Owen did it in 98, and Rooney in 04. I think Sven was hoping that Walcott was going to do the same thing in 06, but the difference between Walcott and Rooney/Owen was that Rooney and Owen had been performing well in the Premier League before being called up. Owen had played a full season for Liverpool before the 98 World cup and had scored 18 goals, and Rooney had played 2 full seasons at Everton before Euro 04. Walcott had never played in the Premier League and had only made 21 appearances for Southampton in the Championship, scoring 4 goals. Sven basically chose to take gamble, knowing that he'd be lauded as a genius if it paid off but it backfired badly on him.
Theo Walcott was an exceptional talent and he played against Barcelona at 18 years old and watch back if you are not old enough or have forgotten. He was better than Michael Owen at his age.
In 2006 Rooney was the country's biggest player who scored a lot of club goals. It was no surprise that he was rushed back to play when he wasn't 100% fit.
We went into that World Cup with only one uninjured, recognised striker who had scored a Premier League goal in 2006...and left Defoe and Bent at home. Neither Owen, Rooney or Walcott delivered so don't see how he cannot now say with hindsight that he got it wrong
Well said on the Greaves/Hurst thing there, Sven has no answer to that. Let's not forget Pele was injured during 1962 World Cup as well and his replacement, Amarildo scored in the final.
Picking a seventeen year old Theo Walcott for England, who hadn't even made his Premier League debut, is one of the strangest managerial decisions of all time. And that's even before you factor in that we only had three other strikers in the squad, two of which had huge injury concerns. Absolutely baffling.
The fact he didn’t even play him made picking him even more non-sensical. Then Rooney later admitted that he injured himself kicking a ball during training at this World Cup and didn’t tell you Sven.
Taking a player based on them being young, skillful, full of potential and fearless isn't a problem. Hoddle did the same with Owen in France 98 and pretty much had to be bullied into playing him by the 3rd game. Not playing the wildcard in 5 games is the problem. I would rather have seen a bold failure in 2006 than the nothing that happened in the end. For all the "golden generation" repeaters, just watch again the penalty shootout against Portugal where we were so bad, we could have been mistaken for being Dutch.
owen came on as a sub in first 2 games and scored in 1, started 3rd game and was already a 1st team scorer for liverpool by 1998 he also score 18 goals in leage that season
what are you english people on about, you were happy with heskey for about a decade. I miss my Brazil team back then with Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka and now we have Firmino and Gabriel Jesus
I used to criticise Sven but what other formation could he have played? Everyone goes on about our midfield but what about the striking options. Football was changing from the 4-4-2 to the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 but if we changed to these tactics we needed a lone world class striker which we never had. If we played 4-2-3-1 we already have a problem with the CDM part probs drop Gerrard in there because out of Scholes and Lampard he’s the best all round midfielder, Rooney would have to drop into the number ten role so who do you play upfront? Michael Owen is not a lone striker and he was on his way out through constant injuries. The other options were Peter crouch, Emile Heskey or Darius Vassell? You need an Henry or Samuel Eto or Drogba at this time in football before it changed again to the fast paced 4-3-3.
To break it down. Back then Sven cared about the backlash of media and fans on him so he made silly decisions based upon that. These days managers have stronger backbones.
genuinely funny reading comments about how defoe and bent were class and sven was clueless. there's a big difference between being able to score for charlton or spurs vs mid table opposition and making an impact at a world cup. svens cv speaks for itself, ask the 06 crop of of players, probably the best since 66 and i doubt they'd blame anyone but themselves. they were just a bit timid
Should've picked Scholes and Shearer. Shearer declared retirement after 05-06 season so he didn't have to worry about playing fresh for Newcastle anymore. Knowing he passed his prime time, He was still much better choice than likes of Walcott and experience wise better asset than likes of Defoe. As for golden generation, Gerrard and Lampard didn't gain world class status just yet in Euro 2004 (04/05 season was when Gerrard and Lampard earned absolute world class status, which was after Euro 2004) but overall, Euro 2004 England played higher level than World cup 2006, failed qualifying euro 2008, as well as World cup 2010 and I believe Scholes played big part for it.
Havent watched the video but imo the reason is probably cos he is fast and for some reason English football fans in the majority value pace over other traits.
Tbf people take the piss out of him. 108 goals, 70 somethin assists in 399 apps for arsenal. I think thats alright for a winger but expectations for hin were sky high.
@@morelyfe1891 yeah not to mention being riddled with injuries too. I agree the reason he's hated is mostly due to expectations though as well as Wenger insisting he'd step up and reach the next level when he never did. I think if he left Arsenal earlier and spent his prime at an Everton level club then he would be remembered a lot more fondly as more than just another English disappointing youth prospect
@@firstnamelastname364 im an Arsenal supporter. Ive been rooting for him to progress for so long through all the injuries and wanted arsene to keep trying him out at 9 lol but really hes average at best.
I agree with many here. The team in terms of personnel basically picked itself. But sven wasn't bold or creative with it. He didn't find a way to fit the pieces together...england had a ridiculous midfield but lacked wingers, creative players and forwards. And Sven didnt know how to work around that. He wasn't a coach that helped them mentally either. The players, despite its characters, always looked too small for the stage, like they played with the handbreak on. Nervous, short of belief, no cohesion, no spirit, no belief. The manager had a big part to play in it.
Everyone: Why did you pick Theo Walcott, Sven?
Sven: Funny.
Lol. Since 66 any WC record good or bad was what England were craving for. Even if it meant ruining a bright 16 year olds prospective career for the sake of being a nation to field the youngest WC debutant 🤣😂🤣😂
@@muhammedraja5060 WC means water closet in British English, a lavatory.
Still feel like Defoe was the right choice, he was a good player.
Good goal scorer too. Walcott was good as well but virtually no game time or experience. Defoe was a no brainier
@British Patriot Still one of the most underrated strikers of the PL era. The guy was class.
Actually Defoe thought that he was going. A few months before the team selection he was guest on some cooking show where they were cooking together with a chef. He was talking like he was already selected for the final squad.
Back in those days England's requirement was poor.
He’s definitely high or something
Man these Sky segments are getting more and more incredible.
INCREDIBLE?!
Defoe was massively disrespected by Sven.
yeah defo
Kev Shearer oi oi 😂😂😂😂
And Darren Bent. He was the top scoring English man during the season for Charlton Athletic. Erikson was clueless
@@jop23ify - dont you mean marcus bent?
@@kevshearer3245 No, Darren Bent, he was transferred from ipswich town to Charlton in 2005. He was their top scorer. Marcus Bent was then at Everton
Basically had no idea, just a great story if it worked out
@LucasTorreiraisthegoat he didn't even come on as a sub literally zero minutes, zero seconds played.
@LucasTorreiraisthegoat at that time he'd never played a prem game
Thing was he didnt even play him. So he could have brought him along to be around the place and brought Deffo
@Hms Still better win% than Southgate.
Darren Bent scored 18 premier league goals during the 2005-06 season for a struggling Charlton side. He should have been kicked
Absolutely.
They're talking about the 2006 world cup and you're bringing up darren bent. smh
*picked
@@altruistic3276 better than a 16 year old who's played 10 games. Just because he's not a household name doesn't mean he couldn't do a job. His goalscoring record proved it.
Violence is never the answer!
That must’ve been heartbreaking for Defoe
If Sven was honest with himself he'd agree he was wrong with that call... Defoe could really have nicked an important goal I feel. Player number 23 could really have won England an important game... I think it's stupid to suggest that any professional footballer picked for England couldn't have made a meaningful contribution... Players like Joey Barton, Jermain jenas, kieron dyer, Lee bowyer wouldn't have been the first name on the team sheet, but they could very well have scored against Portugal.. clearly he's not a manager that boosts his players morale
Defoe got his chance in international tournaments and had no impact.
@@kpwand a lot of times a player can play a lot better with a certain set of players around them, and I feel Defoe has a lot of qualities that would've complimented the 06 team.
@@RaseYourProbs Defoe played in the entire '06 qualifying campaign. I think if he was completely overlooked, it's a fair question. But he had a good look at him and said that his league form was poor... which it was.
@@kpwand you may be right... But surely you can't say having Walcott there instead of him was better? Who'd England have in 06? James Beattie? Kevin Davies? Not that they are great strikers but wouldn't they have been a better option than Walcott?
Putting a player with just 13 professional appearances in a World Cup squad because of a bit of hype over the likes of proven in form goalscorers such as Defoe and Bent was a ridiculous decision, especially when you consider the fact he didn’t play him even for one minute and seemingly was never going to
and he'd never played a top flight game
We know Bent or Defoe were much more likely to score than Theo. Defoe should have gone in my opinion, he could score from anywhere at any given moment.
Because if he hadve picked Defoe as that 23rd player, he probably would've used him in the end
Not as ridiculous as going to Notts County.
Yet people want mainoo to be picked for England this year
Two injured strikers plus Crouch and Walcott !! Darren Bent was the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier that season and wasn’t even considered. Erickson as a football manager is like me as Governor of the Bank of England.
He got to 3 QFs with England, what have you done mate?
@@manusiaganteng2753 I could have got to the quarter finals with that team
@@harrison9691 You should tell the FA, they might give you a job.
@@manusiaganteng2753 well I mean if you have one of the best teams it’s not hard
@@harrison9691 cool
"a player picked at no. 23 will not win the World Cup for you...". What tf is that mentality
An idiots mentality
Like Eder didn’t win the Euros for Portugal?
@@christophergreaney4974 exactly
@@christophergreaney4974 and Gotze came off the bench to win the World Cup if am not mistaken. Silly comments.
@@jacknapier6668 there were several players who didn't play at All for germany in the world cup like draxler who was the 23th man. Don't mention Götze at the beginning of the tournament he started games as a striker only after 2 or games klose replaced him as a starting striker
Sven was absolutely clueless. He had the best squad we'd had for years. His tactics were rigid and outdated. 4 4 2 didn't work anymore. He took an injured Rooney who clearly wasn't fit to play. We played with no style, identity or passion
geniuine question. what formation should we have gone for with the 'Golden Generation'
Robert Nettleship You people could have gone a 4-1-2-1-2 with there being a CDM in Scholes, CAM in Lampard, Rooney the target man and somebody like Owen or Defoe the poacher. Gerrard could play either CDM or CAM. Hargreaves could play CDM as well and a younger Scholes could also play the CAM role as well.
Account User Rooney??? A target man?????? Rooney game is nothing like a target man. Plus Scholes doesn’t do enough defensively to play as cdm neither did he have the fitness to play there
Account User real life football isn’t fifa mate
@@stoo8441 lol
Theo Walcott: England App: 47 Goals: 8
Defoe England App: 57 Goals 20
Not even going to share club goals....
Defore was a goal poacher Theo has spent most of his career on the wing so goals isn’t a great way to compare them. Without injuries Walcott could’ve been a top class player. He just started to score goals and show his potential at 23 before he had serious injury after serious injury. He was never the same afterwards. But sure Defoe would’ve won us the World Cup lol
Ricky Cheese not win, but give you better depth and a better chance. No excuses picking a 16 yr old over a proven goal scorer.
@@mericanbadass5299 he never said there wasn't he just pointed out the obvious in this twats comment with no knowlege involved
A prime Walcott was superior to a prime Defoe. Hands down.
Wonder how many assists Defoe has in his career ? Has he ever passed the ball ?
Loved Walcott on fifa back in the day
Matt Simons Especially Fifa 12. 96 pace lol
Ah the old England teams with Walcott, Agbonlahor and Gerrard+Lampards crazy long shots
Zlatan is better
Through ball and he's one on one with the keeper, too OP
I liked him on Master League where his pace would just go through the roof. This is going back a few years!
Waste of time bringing Sven on the show. Never get a legitimate answer out of him
i know right you'd think after all these years he'd just admit he made a mistake bringing theo over an established striker.
He's like a politician
I cant believe all these years later he genuinely stands by his decision to select Walcott over Defoe and Darren Bent. What a mug!
Who cares? England will never win anything
@@cocofresh6974 why? 😂 England plays the final against Italy, when you lose, i will remind you on Sunday night!
@@cocofresh6974 i dont understand a word what you said. But when italy wins on sunday, my comment still makes sense 😂
@@cocofresh6974 haha England it's coming home!
Sven was too busy having affairs with secretaries to care enough about England.
@We Deliver BEXIT FC nobody loves this country though.
@Repent man He's right though. International football is about the best of one country against the best of another country. From the head coach down to the tea lady....otherwise what's the point?
From a remain voter.
@We Deliver BEXIT FC You mean like Sven's predecessor Kevin Keegan or his replacements McClaren and Hodgson? Lol
And yet he still did better than most have as England manager
He was a really clueless managet and still clueless to this day. The fact of the matter is every single player in your world cup squad should be selected because they can contribute. He's now stating player number 23 can't win you a world cup.
Growing up in football I've always heard my coaches tell me everyone in the team has something to contribute... Then now I hear Sven tell me my coaches probably never had the faith in me to win them anything 🤣🤣
Yh he's completely wrong on that because Eder score the goal that won Portugal the Euro's in 2016
He's not clueless his cv is better than most
@@ay613 True but he hasn't won anything since 2000 with Lazio so he's past it
@@dtm9792 hasnt really managed a top club since 2000.
Anything that says “Sven-Goran Eriksson Explains” is just hilarious
Thanks to the host for checking Sven. I was going to ask about Schillaci in 1990, Rossi in 1982. There are a lot of players in world cup history that went to the tournament not as the main man but delivered on the big stage.
@Boring Name ok that quickly went south!
@Boring Name I was talking about players that perform way above expectations at a tournament. You know, good enough to make the team but nothing great was expected from them. They then go and have a hell of a tournament.
I remember there was a cooking show on tv a few weeks before the england selection was announced. Defoe was the guest and while they were cooking Defoe talked about how he can't wait to play for the team. I think he was almost convinced that he was going and then SVEN takes fecking TIO
I felt Defoe was always a underrated player. And at that time he would have been in his prime.
I think a mistake to pick Walcott over him.
@LucasTorreiraisthegoat He just had alot of speed. And at that time he lost the ball alot.
Love the fact Defoe is STILL PLAYING TOP FLIGHT FOOTBALL...isn’t he banging in goals for our Stevie G’s Rangers?! ROFL Walcott sorry loved ya but you’re no Defoe!!!
Defoe was better than Walcott.
@@redlavish7027 He still is.
Michael Brock
Yep
sven is so annoying he has excuses for everything even after all these years he can't just admit he got some things wrong.
Well Sven's strategy of taking one for the future worked out. Theo Walcott went on to become one of the greatest strikers in an England shirt and played in lots of tournaments.....
The alternative was Defoe. But he wasn’t playing regularly. Ok instead he picks a player with zero games and zero experience.
Exactly, it didn't really make sense.
Defoe wasn’t playing every week but he was proven in the premier league.
Walcott wasn’t ready he played few games at Southampton.
What is Sven on about.
Defoe was scoring goals pick him
Sven clearly fell into the hype the media had on him. Why select somebody you're not even going to use?
Secret Guy Experience which will prove vital as in 2010 he was a shoe in or wait he didn’t make it
darren bent scored 18 goals that year, more than rooney
For Charlton as well who finished in the lower half of the table.
Didn’t Darren bent get 20 odd that season for Charlton
Just looking at this guy is getting me mad he wasted our golden generation completely! That squad should of reached a major final atleast 😤
DARREN BENT!!!!!!! SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE SQUAD. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS TAKING WALCOTT. ERIKSON YOU PLEB
Darren Bent couldn't trap wind. Look at how many mis hit goals he scored. Only time he ever hit ball cleanly, he walloped Harry Redknapp on camera
Sven clearly can’t justify any of the decisions he made. His answers are rather tame with no insight.
Sven was the biggest wasteman ever Theo Walcott hadn't played in the premier league yet you chose him over Defoe joke business
He didn't pick Darren Bent either. Apparently scoring 18 league goals for a struggling side wasn't good enough. Absolute pisstake.
Yep I would have taken bent he deserved a call up
Defoe was a better all round player than bent and Walcott. Forget the goals, Defoe was a better footballer.
Remember at the time how badly you wanted this interview, now 14 years later its finally here lol
I still don't think Sven gets enough stick for what a crap job he did with England. Gareth Southgate is getting to World Cup semi-finals and playing much better football with a squad that has about 50% of the ability of the players Sven had to work with.
I like Sven but he's talking out of his arse about this. You had Defoe, Darren Bent, reborn Fowler, Heskey, Sheringham(still flying at West ham), Andy Cole at City, in-form Andy Johnson at Palace(championship) in all goalscorers, all capable of coming off the bench and laying a ball off and poaching one. Big mistake, just admit it.
Just listening to him you would think the players would get fed up of him
The 2006 squad had such insane raw talent - too bad the players couldn't see country over club.
Football is always Club over Country
In England we tend to lean more towards clubs because of the strength of the league🤷🏻♂️
Jamie O'sullivan yes not so much in other countries for example Spain they play so well together even though they fight un el clásico
Ian Tuohy couldn’t be more wrong. Yes we have some great foreign talent in the Premier League, but we also have some great English talent aswell, every club does
@@jamieosullivan2684 And that "great English talent" will forever be capped if clubs continue to sell themselves out to the Chinese (Wolves) and Arabs (Man City), who could care less about domestic development.
Both Bent and Defoe were ahead of Theo Walcott in pecking order but no Sven wanted to pick "an exciting young who was going to come on as a substitute set the tournament alight". He did not even feature in a minute in the tournament. What's mind boggling is that he claims that the only thing he should have done differently was bringing in a "mental coach". Really? The only thing?? being adamant that both Lampard and Gerrard have to play together even if they unperformed or didn't suite the balance of team (take Fabregas's explain for Spain), not making Paul Scholes the focal point in midfield (even Capello realised this when he tried to change Scholesy's mind about retirement), overlooking players performances in the season; he must have thought both Rooney and Owen were 100% fit even that's being naive
Effectively Sven said in this clip that he called up Walcott just so he could watch the World Cup and see how the tournament operates for when he's older and more experienced to actually play in one. So, he gave Walcott a World Cup apprenticeship? What was this man doing anywhere near England's dugout.
Dean World Cup apprenticeship?..😂😂
Sven thought he was playing the FIFA World Cup 2006 management mode game, the players he picked and football tactics he used.
The problem wasnt picking Walcott as such, given the options. The problem was picking Walcott and then refusing to play him for the entirety of the tournament. Utterly mindboggling. If he had that little faith in Walcott why pick him?
Ollie Watkins scored in the 90th min to take England to the Euro Final!
Darren bent finished as top scoring English men in the premier league does not make the squad bullshit.
Should have taken Defoe. There was also Darren Bent around IIRC. Walcott had hardly played a senior game.
Can you imagine Gareth southgate picking a player for the euros that has never played for their club this season?! Theo should never have gone.
Southgate picks Barkley ahead of Maddison and Grealish. Come on bro🤨
@@Ayanokoji021 Barkley, maddison and grealish have prior experience. Tornaments. Premier league etc..Theo Walcott didnt have any in the premier league at that time. Not a good example.
Jennai Shirow What is “tournament experience” ? They are professional players that play football. It’s just another game.
@@007Fusiion k
Defoe wasn’t as prolific as people choose to remember. Only scored 9 the season before this World Cup and only managed 18 once in the Premierleague
Any how many did Walcott score or create at that time?
@Ajmal Ali oh so Just because you pkayer for a "top side" it means you are automatically better?
J Bo it was definitely a risk that didn’t pay off but at the time he was hoping Walcott was gonna be the next Rooney
I was so angry when Sven chose Walcott over Defoe and he still can’t accept he made a ridiculous decision. Defoe was playing for Spurs, scoring and in another league to Walcott. If Defoe has gone, we could’ve gone further in World Cup for sure
I’m Mexican bro but that England squad was the best chance you guys had, with so much world class national teams back then (more than now) it is very unfortunate you guys couldn’t win at least 1 title w that team full of legends.
Welcome back Sven! Loved your work at Lazio.
I was wondering what reason he had not to pick Defoe that year. He actually had a very down year compared to normal only scoring 9 goals. However Darren Bent scored 18 so there was a good alternative
Darren Bent scored 23 Pl goals that season, and did not get picked .
@@zlatanibrahimovic7692 ofc not, Ibra is diffrent class!
@@isakthorsen7129 Everybody knows I am different class
One of the most overrated managers of the past 20 years had one of the most gifted England squads ever and couldn't do anything with them. Clueless
Unlucky? Like bringing and not playing a 17 year old with no experience instead of someone like Defoe or Bent who might've knicked a goal off the bench that's unlucky?.Thats not unlucky its dumb.
He's not even rated
We'd seen English wonderkids go to previous tournaments and make a name for themselves. Owen did it in 98, and Rooney in 04. I think Sven was hoping that Walcott was going to do the same thing in 06, but the difference between Walcott and Rooney/Owen was that Rooney and Owen had been performing well in the Premier League before being called up. Owen had played a full season for Liverpool before the 98 World cup and had scored 18 goals, and Rooney had played 2 full seasons at Everton before Euro 04. Walcott had never played in the Premier League and had only made 21 appearances for Southampton in the Championship, scoring 4 goals. Sven basically chose to take gamble, knowing that he'd be lauded as a genius if it paid off but it backfired badly on him.
Rest in Peace Mr Eriksson
Urm he isn't dead?
Theo Walcott was an exceptional talent and he played against Barcelona at 18 years old and watch back if you are not old enough or have forgotten. He was better than Michael Owen at his age.
Great to have Sven on, but I never feel we can really trust a word he says
Why not?
In 2006 Rooney was the country's biggest player who scored a lot of club goals. It was no surprise that he was rushed back to play when he wasn't 100% fit.
He should've played Walcott. If you pick him, have the guts to play him. I think he would've been a revelation.
We went into that World Cup with only one uninjured, recognised striker who had scored a Premier League goal in 2006...and left Defoe and Bent at home. Neither Owen, Rooney or Walcott delivered so don't see how he cannot now say with hindsight that he got it wrong
Theo had something nobody else did, raw pace and hunger unlike any of the players in the squad at the time...
Perhaps he should have been a runner because he sure as hell was clueless about football.
@@jamesjarrett52 England’s youngest ever player to score a hat trick...
These adds are way too long for a 2 min video ffs sky you make enough money
Its not sky silly, its RUclips
Well said on the Greaves/Hurst thing there, Sven has no answer to that. Let's not forget Pele was injured during 1962 World Cup as well and his replacement, Amarildo scored in the final.
Peter Bone seems very knowledgeable on footie.
Peter Bone would be more knowleagable than this dunce.
Picking a seventeen year old Theo Walcott for England, who hadn't even made his Premier League debut, is one of the strangest managerial decisions of all time. And that's even before you factor in that we only had three other strikers in the squad, two of which had huge injury concerns. Absolutely baffling.
He reminded him of another quick 16 year old at previous world cup, Ronaldo R9 el fenomeno but minus the skills, flair, strength, foresight
Never before have so many been so disappointed my so few - Sven after 2006 defeat
What a plumhead
Defoe was different gravy for me!! Prolific and dynamic goal scorer, with great pace. I for one would have loved him to go to Arsenal.
Nobody is hated in English football as much as this man😂😂😂😂😂
It’s shocking how this guy was England manager for so long
this fool left Defoe at home....he is still leagues ahead of Theo. Just saying it loudly
Always loved Sven. Honorary Englishman.
Top lad.
Darren Bent scored 18 goals that season. He was on fire. Sven must have thought he was Welsh
He’s absolutely clueless isn’t he.
The fact he didn’t even play him made picking him even more non-sensical.
Then Rooney later admitted that he injured himself kicking a ball during training at this World Cup and didn’t tell you Sven.
Taking a player based on them being young, skillful, full of potential and fearless isn't a problem. Hoddle did the same with Owen in France 98 and pretty much had to be bullied into playing him by the 3rd game.
Not playing the wildcard in 5 games is the problem.
I would rather have seen a bold failure in 2006 than the nothing that happened in the end.
For all the "golden generation" repeaters, just watch again the penalty shootout against Portugal where we were so bad, we could have been mistaken for being Dutch.
owen came on as a sub in first 2 games and scored in 1, started 3rd game and was already a 1st team scorer for liverpool by 1998 he also score 18 goals in leage that season
The fact that Sven picked Theo Walcott over Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent was laughable.
Man's picking the 23 man WC squad like its a FUT Draft loooool.
what are you english people on about, you were happy with heskey for about a decade. I miss my Brazil team back then with Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka and now we have Firmino and Gabriel Jesus
I used to criticise Sven but what other formation could he have played? Everyone goes on about our midfield but what about the striking options. Football was changing from the 4-4-2 to the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 but if we changed to these tactics we needed a lone world class striker which we never had. If we played 4-2-3-1 we already have a problem with the CDM part probs drop Gerrard in there because out of Scholes and Lampard he’s the best all round midfielder, Rooney would have to drop into the number ten role so who do you play upfront? Michael Owen is not a lone striker and he was on his way out through constant injuries. The other options were Peter crouch, Emile Heskey or Darius Vassell? You need an Henry or Samuel Eto or Drogba at this time in football before it changed again to the fast paced 4-3-3.
Never mind him picking Walcott I want to know about him picking faria alam
Awsan Teina plowing or picking..?
@@007Fusiion picking then most definitely plowing 🤣
1:39 “he was not regular” Defoe was getting FAR MORE MINUTES than Walcott bruhhhh
this dude was just a hype,his style of management was long gone
Should have taken J Defoe ⚽️🥅
To break it down. Back then Sven cared about the backlash of media and fans on him so he made silly decisions based upon that. These days managers have stronger backbones.
Goes to show these managers who we think know everything know so little!
Jermaine Defoe was a natural goalscorer. He was quality. The fact Walcott got selected over him was a disgrace
Sven is a moron
Fine margins, could have easily made 3 finals and if Rooney never got crocked in '04 we would have won the Euros without question.
Deluded as ever Mark.
Unpopular opinion: managers of national teams should be from the nation their managing.
Should have picked Defoe for that WC and iam and Arsenal fan.
Utter madness. Just like playing Scholes on the left. Let's have it right, he destroyed the golden generation.
Defoe the most underrated striker.
genuinely funny reading comments about how defoe and bent were class and sven was clueless. there's a big difference between being able to score for charlton or spurs vs mid table opposition and making an impact at a world cup. svens cv speaks for itself, ask the 06 crop of of players, probably the best since 66 and i doubt they'd blame anyone but themselves. they were just a bit timid
Should've picked Scholes and Shearer. Shearer declared retirement after 05-06 season so he didn't have to worry about playing fresh for Newcastle anymore. Knowing he passed his prime time, He was still much better choice than likes of Walcott and experience wise better asset than likes of Defoe. As for golden generation, Gerrard and Lampard didn't gain world class status just yet in Euro 2004 (04/05 season was when Gerrard and Lampard earned absolute world class status, which was after Euro 2004) but overall, Euro 2004 England played higher level than World cup 2006, failed qualifying euro 2008, as well as World cup 2010 and I believe Scholes played big part for it.
Sven on Coaches corner >>> Sven on Sky. Watch it before arguing. Thanks
Where was phil jones in his team?
Can't believe he's just 28
Are u having a laugh Phil Jones ? Hahaha
He was 14...still probably would have been more use than Walcott though.
Michael Brock but look at him now ? His useless can’t even get in the first team
Sees Sven pic.
Clicks vid lickety-quick!
Havent watched the video but imo the reason is probably cos he is fast and for some reason English football fans in the majority value pace over other traits.
Fast forward 15 years Walcott is still on for the future
Tbf people take the piss out of him. 108 goals, 70 somethin assists in 399 apps for arsenal. I think thats alright for a winger but expectations for hin were sky high.
@@morelyfe1891 yeah not to mention being riddled with injuries too. I agree the reason he's hated is mostly due to expectations though as well as Wenger insisting he'd step up and reach the next level when he never did.
I think if he left Arsenal earlier and spent his prime at an Everton level club then he would be remembered a lot more fondly as more than just another English disappointing youth prospect
@@firstnamelastname364 im an Arsenal supporter. Ive been rooting for him to progress for so long through all the injuries and wanted arsene to keep trying him out at 9 lol but really hes average at best.
fake channel He never went on loan, did he? Nor moved club. It’s odd looking back now.
I agree with many here. The team in terms of personnel basically picked itself. But sven wasn't bold or creative with it. He didn't find a way to fit the pieces together...england had a ridiculous midfield but lacked wingers, creative players and forwards. And Sven didnt know how to work around that. He wasn't a coach that helped them mentally either. The players, despite its characters, always looked too small for the stage, like they played with the handbreak on. Nervous, short of belief, no cohesion, no spirit, no belief. The manager had a big part to play in it.
Basically he hit hit head against the wall and picked the first player he saw
What about Defoe? This guy is my clueless!!!!
He 1 of our own
Walcott - one of the most frustrating players England has ever produced