Sven-Goran Eriksson obituary: Former England manager who could and should have ended trophy drought

The 2006 World Cup was the final curtain for Eriksson, the manager who had promised so much and had so much talent to use, and yet could not take that final step towards England’s first success since the 1966 World Cup.

The end came months after Eriksson fell for a Sunday tabloid’s “fake sheikh,” enjoying a fancy dinner and vintage champagne before delivering a series of indiscreet revelations.

He told the News of the World undercover reporter that Owen was unhappy at Newcastle United, while he himself could leave his England job to join Aston Villa, luring Beckham from Real Madrid to Villa Park in the process.

Eriksson was an engaging and courteous character, with an uncanny ability to smile when deflecting personal scandals, never allowing his inquisitors to lay a glove on him. He rarely, if ever, showed anger, even in the most difficult situations.

He also had a steely touch, which infuriated Manchester United boss Ferguson when he insisted that an injured Rooney would be included in the 2006 World Cup squad once he was declared fit, whether the big Scot liked it or not.

Eriksson’s insistence backfired as a frustrated Rooney, not fully fit after breaking a metatarsal bone in his foot playing for United and far from his best, was sent off for stepping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho during that quarter-final exit in Gelsenkirchen.

Looking back at Eriksson’s time in charge today, those of us who followed him would say he was too much under the thumb of big names like Beckham, always selecting him when the midfielder was clearly suffering from injury.

He was, to some extent, impressed. This led him to try to fill his team with his best players rather than adopting pragmatism to get his best team.

Eriksson wanted a midfield quartet of Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes. That was understandable, but it also lacked balance, with Scholes’ deployment in an unfamiliar role on the left side arguably pushing a world-class talent into early international retirement.

He also struggled to put together a unified team with club divisions including players from Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, but there is no doubt that Eriksson could, and perhaps should, have been the manager to end England’s wait for a trophy.