Sven determined to stand by his men

SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON stressed his unswerving loyalty to his players as he looked for England to transform their World Cup qualifying position in Poland today — led by under-fire captain David Beckham.

Eriksson looks set to keep faith with the same side that surrendered a 2-0 lead against Austria last Saturday, even after what Michael Owen described as “15 minutes of madness” in Vienna.

David James is expected to retain his place in goal despite his latest clanger and the growing claims of Paul Robinson. And as long as Beckham can prove his fitness after a painful rib injury, there is no possibility of him being sidelined.

The England captain trained with his team-mates this afternoon and, while Eriksson was making no promises, he is hopeful that Beckham will be fit to face Poland.

“He had a scan and has not broken a rib. I can’t say for sure that he’ll play but I think he will do,” he said.

Beckham’s recent lack of influence on the pitch may have has been criticised by former England captain Terry Butcher, while even ex-England boss Graham Taylor believes Eriksson’s close relationship with his captain can also be “unhealthy”.

But Eriksson sees nothing to apologise for in his continued faith in Beckham, who now plays such a pivotal role within the squad.

“I can’t agree that he played badly against Austria, absolutely not,” he insisted. “I know he can play better but I haven’t considered dropping him for this game.”

Asked if Beckham’s leadership skills were in question, he said: “By me, no. And by the rest of the players, no.”

However, Eriksson grew increasingly perturbed as he defended his desire to keep faith in his players. “Why shouldn’t you be loyal to your players?” he added. “But that’s not the same thing as saying that you shouldn’t drop them, even if they are the worst on the pitch for a while.

“If I think that some of our players should be dropped, I will drop them. If I don’t drop them, it’s because I don’t think they should be dropped.”

That patient approach would seem to extend to James, whose latest high-profile mistake against Austria will not cost him his place.

Eriksson said: “I’ve never had a team that was perfect for 90 minutes in every game. I doubt you can find it.

“Football is about trying to do as few mistakes as possible. If one player makes a mistake then, as a manager, you can’t kill him for that.

“You must try and improve in practice and you have discussions. We’re not perfect, unfortunately, and we will never be. Hopefully we will make less mistakes and get better and better for the next two years.”

That policy would also seem to mean Wayne Bridge getting another run on the left side of midfield and Alan Smith maintaining his place alongside Owen up front. Some may call that loyalty and a belief in continuity, while others call it lack of decisive leadership and allowing senior players to live in a comfort zone.

But Owen, who is also effectively fireproof in this England team due to his excellent international goal-scoring return, insisted: “I don’t think there’s a comfort zone. I think the top players are treated the same as everyone else.

“I think I’m playing on merit. I’ve performed well enough to justify my place in the team in the past few games. Look at other managers. When I was coming through as a young kid, Alan Shearer and Tony Adams never got dropped.

“I’ve been in the team a long time and I see the cycles we go through. Now it’s about a comfort zone, before that it was a gambling culture and, in six months’ time, it’ll be something else.

“I’m very positive about England. We’ve got to two quarter-finals, no one likes playing against us, we’re one of the top countries in the world and we have some of the best players in the world.

“There are other big nations in the world that are cursing themselves more than us. Imagine how Spain are feeling now, for instance.”

Not that England will feel much better if they lose in Chorzow. Just over 31 years ago, a 2-0 defeat in Poland, compounded by a 1-1 draw at Wembley, cost England their place at the 1974 World Cup finals.

Eriksson concluded: “I hope it will not be a replay of that. I’m still quite sure that we will play in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.”