Argentina ‘not unbeatable’ - Eriksson

Sven-Goran Eriksson declared that Argentina are by no means ‘‘unbeatable’’ as he insisted he could find weaknesses in a team built around players he helped to nurture to the top.

In just over 12 months at Lazio, Eriksson spent £90million on six of Argentina’s finest players - Juan Sebastian Veron, Diego Simeone, Nestor Sensini, Matias Almeyda, Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez.

At least three of them, if not four, will be at the heart of Argentina’s plans in Friday’s vital group encounter with England in Sapporo.

And that is when Eriksson will have to produce the masterplan to overcome players whom he has referred to as being like his ‘‘own family’’.

Principally, the Swede sees the dangerman as Veron, who has reportedly described the sustained criticism of his first season in English football as a ‘‘humiliation’’.

Manchester United team-mate David Beckham has already admitted Veron could aim to prove a point on Friday, especially in the free role allowed to him by his country that is restricted at Old Trafford by Roy Keane’s presence.

‘‘If I was the manager he should have nothing to show me as I know exactly how good he is,’’ declared Eriksson, who discovered Veron in South America before signing him for Sampdoria and then Lazio.

‘‘I don’t think he has to prove anything. He knows he is a big player, and I know it as well.

‘‘He can do everything. He is complete as a football player. His best skill is his vision and passing, but he can also defend extremely well if you want him to do that.

‘‘I don’t have any idea why he has struggled to be himself at United. I know at the start of the season when I saw him he was absolutely fantastic.’’

Eriksson has never coached Gabriel Batistuta but also knows all about the threat of the Roma striker, whom he describes as being like a ‘‘block of granite’’.

The England coach added: ‘‘He is a goalscorer, from every angle, every position.

‘‘If he is challenged by a defender, shielding the ball, you can’t move him. He is also a great header of the ball as his goal against Nigeria showed.

‘‘Crespo has more movement and is maybe a better player technically. He is different to Batistuta but has always scored a lot of goals.

‘‘Lopez is quick, quick, quick. His pace is incredible. He had a very bad injury more than a year ago and suffered from that. But now he’s back to where he was before the injury.

‘‘Simeone is a hard worker, a technically excellent football player. He has always been a team player, helping where he needs to give a helping hand. He’s very professional, all of them are.’’

Despite all of that praise, however, Eriksson knows there are inevitably still small faults to exploit as well, whether in individuals or in the team as a whole.

‘‘If I talk about a player, whoever he is, I will never talk about the negatives,’’ he stressed.

‘‘But I believe they have things that we can exploit. They are an extremely good football team, with many good players. But it is not impossible. They are not unbeatable.’’

Eriksson knows Argentina will pose different problems to England than Sweden did and is therefore considering switching to a 4-3-3 formation.

Argentina tend to play a fluid 3-3-1-3 system in which Veron is the playmaker and the likes of Ariel Ortega and Lopez are the wingmen either side of a central striker in Batistuta or Crespo.

‘‘On paper, it’s more difficult to beat Argentina but the problems are different if you compare them to Sweden,’’ observed Eriksson, who knows the pressure is on him to outwit his opposite number, Marcelo Bielsa.

‘‘Argentina aren’t as aggressive as Sweden and they don’t play as direct. If you can’t keep the ball against Sweden, it comes back at you all the time.

‘‘It’s physically very difficult against them. You have to keep control of the game.’’

He added: ‘‘Against Argentina, you know the stimulation is there as they are the favourites but the responsibility is always on me as the coach.

‘‘The rules in football are simple - to win.’’