‘Arsene Wenger Should Be England Coach’ Says Sven Goran Eriksson

Published October 5, 2011 | By Rolly (online)

Former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson has singled out none other then Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger as the man who can lead the national team after Fabio Capello departs.

Speaking ahead of England’s decisive Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro, Sven Goran Eriksson insisted that Wenger has all the qualities and understanding of the game to lead England into a new era.

Eriksson himself guided the Three Lions to two consecutive World Cup quarter-finals and a European Championship quarter-final appearance before leaving his position as head coach in 2006.

Now in charge of Championship side Leicester City, the Swede has urged the English FA to look no further than Arsene Wenger, despite the growing calls for Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp to take over the reins, as the FA seek to find a suitable replacement for Capello.

“People talk about Harry Redknapp as the people’s choice. But I’m quite sure if the FA could get Wenger, they would take him,” Eriksson told The Sun.

“Arsene Wenger can adapt to everything. I mean, he lives for football and his family.

“You see how much it matters to him every game. But you also see when it’s a Euro or a World Cup, he is working on it for French television. So he doesn’t miss anything. That’s his holiday!”

The man rated by the FA as England’s second-best manager ever behind 1966 victorious coach Sir Alf Ramsey also added that it matters not if the manager is foreign or English although he scoffed at suggestions that Sir Alex Ferguson would be interested in the England role.

“Alex Ferguson will never take it of course!” the former Lazio and Manchester City chief exclaimed.

“For me, it doesn’t matter if he is English. Whatever nationality the coach, he has a difficult time if you don’t reach the semi-finals. Quarter-finals was not good enough!”