“England can end the millenium as it started - as the greatest football nation in the world.” WorldEndsNationsFootballEnglandManagersSoccerChairman Author:Kevin Keegan
“I have only been here since 1996 but between 1966 and 1996 England had thirty years without foreign players and didn't win any more competitions in that time.” YearsWinningPlayerFootballEnglandCompetitionManagersSoccerThirtyChairmanThirty Years Author:Arsene Wenger
“I didn't realise you could travel so far and still be in England.” StillsFootballEnglandManagersSoccerRealisingChairman Author:Kevin Bond
“David James is frustrated because he thinks us being bottom isn't helping his chances with England. I think it gives him more chance to show his ability.” ThinkingGivingHelpingShowsChanceAbilityFootballEnglandBottomManagersSoccerFrustratedChairman Author:Glenn Roeder
“Remember I've seen a video tape of a Scotland-England match and I've seen him miss a chance from five yards. It was against England and he couldn't score. So what does that say?” DoeRememberChanceFiveMissingFootballEnglandVideoManagersSoccerScoreTapeYardsScotlandChairman Author:Berti Vogts
“In England everything is liberalised. Within certain boundaries and rules everybody can do what he likes. Maybe London's society has a different tempo, a different dynamic. London is fast, productive, creative but it is not England. If you want to transfer that to football, you could say: in the four big English clubs and maybe in the one or two behind them there is a top level. Everything that comes after that rather mirrors English society. It's honest, fair and hard, sometimes also fast, but not always so perfect.” IfsWantTwoDifferentSometimesHardBigsCertainCan DoPerfectLevelsBehindsCreativeFourHonestFootballFairsEnglandMirrorsClubsLondonBoundariesLikesManagersSoccerProductiveChairmanTransfersTempoEnglish Society Author:Jens Lehmann
“A player who dives and wins a penalty in Portugal, or Spain or Italy is considered clever, experienced, cunning, someone who understands the game. In England a player who wins a penalty like that is a cheat.” GamesWinningPlayerFootballEnglandCleverManagersSoccerPenaltiesCheatSpainCunningChairmanPortugal Author:Jose Mourinho
“Whichever country you are, if you lose games you are criticised. It's only when it's England it's like a new world war.” IfsWorldWarCountryGamesLosesFootballEnglandManagersSoccerWar Of The WorldsNew WorldChairman Author:Sven-Goran Eriksson
“If he'd been English or Swedish, he'd have walked the England job.” IfsJobsFootballEnglandManagersSoccerChairmanSwedish Author:Brian Clough
“You know what I wonder about? This - the more details of Sven-Göran Eriksson's love life that appear in the press, the more contempt he attracts for his choice of substitutes in England games. Now, we haven't done the research, but my guess is that Sven's performances in the sack and that of his subs on the pitch are not correlated. So why do we link them?” KnowsDoneChoicesGamesWonderHavensFootballResearchPerformancesEnglandPressesDetailsManagersSoccerRanLove LifeSubstitutesLinksContemptChairman Author:Daniel Finkelstein
“He shouldn't have resigned over that game. It was not a bad performance; in fact it was quite a good one for England. I would not have resigned under those circumstances.” FactsGamesFootballCircumstancesPerformancesEnglandManagersSoccerChairmanResignedBad Performance Author:Franz Beckenbauer
“Sentences I never thought I would write. (1) That John Prescott certainly has a way with the ladies. (2) Give it to Steve McClaren, he seems like the man for the England job. (3) Peter Crouch is the man to replace Rooney.” MenWayGivingWritingSeemsJobsFootballHe ManEnglandSentencesManagersSoccerPeterChairmanRooney Author:Martin Samuel
“The combination of an out-of-control tabloid press and a readership that thrills to the destruction of the England head coach is something no other country can offer. Scolari was driven out; Steve McClaren's personal life made the front pages. Neither of them even held the job. Then there was the fake-sheikhing of Sven-Göran Eriksson. That a newspaper should so brilliantly and deliberately destabilise the national head coach in a World Cup year is something no other sporting nation would consider.” WorldShouldYearsMadeCountryJobsNationsFrontsFootballOffersPagesDestructionEnglandPressesDrivenCoachesNewspapersCupsManagersSoccerCombinationRanFakeOther CountriesPersonal LifeChairmanWorld CupTabloidsReadershipHead Coaches Author:Simon Barnes
“There were moments when I wondered at the gossamer veil that stops licence from being libel. I suspect that taking on the job of England manager puts you outside the protection of the courts. It must be part of the job description that you will be held hostage by media speculation and can have your character tortured, molested and finally executed at the public whim, in exchange for a lifetime's supply of money.” MomentsCharacterJobsMediaFootballEnglandCourtLifetimeProtectionManagersSoccerDescriptionSuspectsVeilsSpeculationChairmanWhimHostageLibel Author:A. A. Gill
“England are very light up front. Eriksson's decision not to include Jermaine Defoe can be declared an error of judgment, regardless of Rooney's situation. The Swede should have forgone one of his nine midfield players; much will have to go wrong for Jermaine Jenas to get a game.” ShouldLightGamesDecisionSituationPlayerFrontsFootballJudgmentShould HaveEnglandErrorsNineManagersSoccerChairmanLight UpRooney Author:Matt Dickinson
“Sven must have neglected to pay tribute to one of those strict Nordic gods. But instead of cursing Eriksson himself, Thor has done a still crueller thing and cursed the England strikers. I can only assume that Eriksson was never informed of this curse, otherwise he might have more than a 17-year-old up his sleeve.” YearsStillsI CanDoneMightPayFootballEnglandAssumingManagersSoccerCurseStrictNeglectedChairmanSleevesTributeCursedCursingStrikersNordic Author:Simon Barnes