Little ventured, little learned
Not a voice out of step, not a murmur of discontent among the travellers to Gothenburg about Eriksson's less than comfortable week.
"We're heading somewhere," said one fan in support of Eriksson.
Perhaps, but it wasn't exactly always easy to tell in which direction after a 1-0 defeat against Sweden which told us precious little about how England might fare in just over two months at the European Championships in Portugal.
Pointless. Little ventured, little learned. How many times have we said that about Eriksson friendlies? Add this to the list, though let's first try to be positive.
Yes, Wayne Rooney looked sharp and incisive and Jermain Defoe, who replaced the unfortunate Darius Vassell after just seven minutes, was the one genuine star of England's night.
But England will meet far superior sides in Portugal than this second-rate Swedish outfit. Quite what that says about the strength in depth of England is worrying, even if David Beckham, Michael Owen, Paul Scholes and Sol Campbell, in particular, were missing from this friendliest of friendlies.
One thing for sure is that England need every man fit and raring to do his duty in the summer if they are to emulate the heroes of 1966. It was flat. It was dour. At times it was monotonous. It was Eriksson.
The most significant aspects for Eriksson were always going to be the central defensive partnership of John Terry and Jonathan Woodgate and the opportunity handed to Celtic's Alan Thompson to fill the problem position on the left-hand side.
Either Terry or Woodgate almost certainly will partner Sol Campbell in Portugal and on the evidence of the first 45 minutes there is not a cigarette paper between them.
Both were equally solid, admittedly against a team which without the talents of the retired Henrik Larsson did not possess an attacking spearhead worth the description. If anything Woodgate was more assured on the ball, the Newcastle player winning his duels with the physical Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The nonsense was that both Woodgate and Terry were substituted at half-time, by Tottenham's Anthony Gardner and Gareth Southgate and then England looked vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Thompson at 30, and having waited for what seems like a lifetime for his chance, needed to come out of the stalls like a thoroughbred if he was to impress the manager enough to book his ticket to Portugal.
His performance, quiet and functional rather than inspirational, never got above a canter and you suspect Eriksson yearned for the more dynamic running of Kieron Dyer.
But that was the problem with this fixture. So many of the personnel on show realistically had little or no chance of breaking for their opening game on June 13 against France.
Rooney was strong and inventive, though he should have done better perhaps with the first-half instinctive prod which struck the foot of a post.
Owen Hargreaves hit the bar from a free-kick, Rooney forced a desperate one-legged save from the Swedish keeper and Defoe had several long-range chances which flew wide.
But while the second-half winner from Ajax's Ibrahimovic came against the run of play the Swedes just about deserved their victory.
: Isaksson (Kihlstedt 45), Lucic, Mellberg (Hansson 45), Mjallby, Edman, Nilsson, Anders Andersson (Linderoth 45), Anders Svensson (Kallstrom 45), Wilhelmsson, Ibrahimovic (Ostlund 90), Elmander (Jonson 45).
: James, Neville, Terry (Southgate 45), Woodgate (Gardner 45), Carragher, Hargreaves (Jenas 60), Gerrard (Joe Cole 60), Butt (Parker 78), Thompson (Smith 60), Vassell (Defoe 12), Rooney (Heskey 60).
