Sven Spin Hits Overdrive

Which is more amusing? The fact that Sven-Goran Eriksson was duped into saying what he really feels about some of his players by a pair of reporters pretending to be Sheikhs or the damage control that is taking place to mend fences in England.

I’ll go with the damage control.

As our England blog has detailed, Sven has gotten himself into hot water for discussing his future and for disparaging a few of his players. The timing is lousy, but really, did he say anything that was all that shocking?

He is not the first to call Rio Ferdinand lazy or to notice that Wayne Rooney has a temper or to think that Michael Owen went to Newcastle for the money. He is also not the first coach to think about moving away from his current coaching job nor is he probably the first to talk to David Beckham about playing for him.

But none of this means a thing in England where the media and the fans are ready to give Sven a one-way ticket back to Sweden. The expectations the country feels for its squad in this year’s World Cup are just as out of control as the blowback from this story and the subsequent kissing and making up that is taking place between all parties.

Sure this is a distraction that wasn’t needed and will be fodder for the tabloids for months to come. But at the end of the day, little has changed. England still has a very good team. Sven still has his job. Rooney still has a temper. And we all still have another five months before the first match.