Former Chelsea and Liverpool defender Johnson recalls making his debut under Sven, who has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The recent news that former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been diagnosed with terminal cancer has sent shockwaves through the football world.
Aside from being one of the most successful gaffers of his generation - winning trophies with the likes of Lazio, Roma and Benfica - he was also one of the most beloved, thanks to his friendly demeanour and often-bizarre off-field antics.
Former Three Lions defender Glen Johnson, who made his international debut under the Swede in 2005, confirms that Sven - as he became known in the British press during his five-year spell as England boss - was loved by his charges.
"I always remember how nice and genuine he was," Johnson tells FourFourTwo on behalf of NJ.Bet. "Certainly for me, he picked me for my debut and my early times in the England squad and for a very experienced manager to make a young player feel so welcome, he didn’t make me feel out of place at all."
(Image credit: Getty)
Neither was it merely the younger players looking to impress, as Johnson was at the time, that enjoyed their time working with a manager who oversaw the Three Lions between 2001 and 2006.
"As a person, you could tell even with the older guys, he was happy to talk to anyone," says Johnson. "He was very genuine, and he was very good at what he did."
England were unable to win any silverware under Eriksson, crashing out at the quarter-final stage of consecutive major tournaments. Some have blamed the now-75-year-old for squandering a supposed "Golden Generation", which included the likes of David Beckham, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, though England's poor performances under subsequent managers has attributed blame to other factors.
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Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, he’s been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany's national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngster’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keegan’s playing career.
