Even Sir Alex Ferguson, when he was playing against the better teams in Europe a couple of years ago, started playing five in midfield. But it can stifle the game, take away the excitement."Since he mentions Ferguson, and knows him about as well as anyone in football, I ask how long he thinks the Manchester United manager will remain at the helm?"I think he'll be another Bobby Robson, I really do. That's the way to play European teams, or teams with a lot of European players, like Chelsea. Nobody will give us any chance whatsoever, and maybe we can make that work for us. In my second game here we went down to Arsenal and drew 1-1."The strategy for playing the top teams these days seems to be to crowd the midfield, I remark "Yes, a lot of people are looking at 4-5-1. Maybe I should have brought in two or three top-drawer players, rather than five average ones But you learn from these things. I've trimmed the squad here from 32 to 20, and that gives me scope, no matter where we are at the end of the season, to build in a certain way."Before then he must take his team to Stamford Bridge.
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How on earth does the Premiership's second- bottom club prepare to take on the top dogs? "By trying to give our players the belief that they can get something out of the game. well, how are you then going to keep the ball to take the pressure off? But that's hindsight. If we could make decisions with hindsight, we would all make different decisions."What would he have done differently, then? At Middlesbrough, for instance? "It's difficult to say. I would certainly bring in Juninho, Ravanelli and Emerson again. But, maybe when we were relegated, I made a mistake in going for five or six squad players. If I ever manage England I want to make a hell of a success of it, and I needed more experience. I'd only been at Middlesbrough for two years at the time."Sven Goran Eriksson could hardly have wanted for more experience in club management, I venture roguishly.
And he doesn't seem to be making a hell of a success of the job Another of those rare smiles "Aye, well, people will say that. I don't think he's done bad, although maybe Portugal was a backward step for him as a manager." Meaning? "Well, maybe his tactics and substitutions in the last few games weren't too clever. When you're in front, and Scholes and Gerrard are your best passers, the best at keeping possession of the ball, and you take them off... Most managers in his situation, whatever ambitions they might be harbouring privately, would publicly admit to craving nothing more than success with their present club. Robson is too honest for that, or maybe not sufficiently media-savvy, even now. I point out that he was once offered a top job; the Football Association offered to make him England manager before they appointed Glenn Hoddle."But I don't regret not taking it The time wasn't right. But I thought I did as good a job as I possibly could have done at Boro, getting them promoted twice, getting to three cup finals.
