Houllier rap for Gerrard surprised me - Eriksson

Sven-Goran Eriksson has admitted he has been surprised by Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier’s public criticism of out-of-sorts midfielder Steven Gerrard.

But the England coach, like Houllier known for protecting his players, revealed he had tried the same drastic approach himself during his days as a club boss – albeit with mixed fortunes.

And Eriksson insists that he has no worries about Gerrard eventually rediscovering his best form and still regards him as a key figure for his country.

Houllier hit out at Gerrard after substituting him at half-time during Liverpool’s Champions League match in Basle last weekend in what was the latest in a string of ineffective performances.

He questioned whether the player was in the right frame of mind and hinted that he was starting to believe all the hype surrounding him.

Eriksson believes that Gerrard will welcome the break this week with England at the get-together and admitted he had volunteered some concern about his form to the player during the meet-up in October for the double Euro header with Slovakia and Macedonia.

But the Swede is adamant that it is only a matter of time before the player he has called the ultimate midfielder when on song will be back to his best.

Eriksson said: “Was I surprised by Gerard Houllier’s comments? Well, maybe yes because normally Houllier is a very diplomatic man from what I can understand.

“So, maybe, yes, I was surprised but I am sure as well that he is a very intelligent man so before doing it I’m sure he has thought a lot about it. I guess he tries to achieve something important by doing it.

“I guess I did it myself sometimes if I thought it necessary. You can’t say that this is right or this is wrong. It depends on each individual situation and you must know the background to it very well before you can say it is right or wrong.

“I did it a couple of times. Once it was successful, another time, maybe not. It is not easy for me talking about Steven Gerrard and I don’t know him as well as Houllier. I don’t know what’s happening.

“But I have not noticed anything especially different about him. He told me that lately he has not been playing his best football although I cannot remember exactly when that was. That was his opinion. He told me that without me asking him. He was not happy with his own performance.”

Eriksson added: “When you are judging Steven Gerrard, you are always expecting great, great things. That’s a problem for those big players and if they are not always among the best on the pitch then people are surprised.

“One problem for all big football players today is that if they don’t do as well as people want, then they are always criticised. It’s a high price to pay for all those big stars but they can’t perform 100% always.

“It is important to remember they are human beings. I don’t want to interfere between Houllier and Steven Gerrard, absolutely not.

“You are always concerned when you have those big names in the England squad not doing as well as you would hope but you have to live with that. It’s life.

“If you take the two games against Slovakia and Macedonia, I know he can play better football than he did then but it was not only Steve Gerrard to be fair.

“You cannot expect that every football game will be like the 5-1 away win over Germany last September because football is not that easy.

“I am not worried because I know that Steven Gerrard will play good football again, extremely good football. I don’t know if it’s going tomorrow or in a couple of weeks.

“I suppose that it’s good for him to come to the national team, have a break, even if it’s only a very short one. But I am not worried, absolutely not.”