Eriksson thanks players for support

Sven-Goran Eriksson has revealed how the support of captain David Beckham and the rest of the England squad reinforced his decision to stay on as national coach amid the recent furore over his personal life.

Eriksson has vowed not to quit his post as England coach because of the controversy over his affair with Football Association secretary Faria Alam.

However, as he asked to be judged on results alone, he did admit that the England fans and players now hold the key to his future.

Beckham, who had a similarly harsh spotlight cast over his private life amid allegations of an affair, nevertheless immediately phoned the Swede to offer his backing after the stories first broke.

Several other England players, including John Terry, Frank Lampard and Michael Owen, have also spoken out in support of their coach in the past few weeks.

“David phoned me and he was very supportive. I heard that other players were supporting me in the papers as well, and I’m very proud of that too,” revealed Eriksson.

“If you don’t have the support of the players, the job is impossible. As a football manager, what are important are the fans and the players.”

If the England fans turn against Eriksson, then his position will become virtually untenable and next week’s friendly against Ukraine in Newcastle is his first public test since this summer’s saga erupted.

Asked what would happen if the fans did start to question his position, he admitted: “That would make life more difficult, for sure. I hope that’s not the case.”

Stressing that he was not worried by a handful of jeers at last weekend’s Community Shield, he insisted: “I’ve always hoped in this country that I am judged on football results and that’s it.

“There is no guarantee that you can win the World Cup but first of all we must qualify. That’s an absolute must for England. Then to do better and finally get to a final in a big tournament. We are working for that.”

The key element is the results now achieved by Eriksson, not only in next week’s friendly, but also in the opening two World Cup qualifying games away to Austria and Poland at the start of next month.

Two victories would be the perfect tonic, while anything less than even three points would surely heap increased pressure on his position.

After all, there are members of the FA’s board who have lost faith in the Swede because of his perceived lack of success on an annual salary of more than £4million.

“I don’t feel more pressure now as the pressure is always there when you play football games and especially with England,” he said.

“If other people think that the pressure is bigger on me because of this summer, I can’t do anything about that. I don’t feel that. When you go out with England, you are supposed to win more or less any game.”

Eriksson, meanwhile, reflected how he would have come under much more flak in Italy, where he used to manage, for failing to get past the Euro 2004 quarter-finals than for anything in his personal life.

“In Italy, this would, for sure, never have happened. I might have been killed because of being knocked out of the European Championship. That should have been a long story, as it was here, I guess,” he said.

“But what I do in my private life, they couldn’t care less.”