Sven. Rogue Yes, Knight No.

Long entry about Football ahead. Not interested please skip. You'll fall asleep.

"Zhng My Sven!!"

Sven Eriksson is a smartass. Think about it. By calling up Theo Walcott(17) and Aaron Lennon(19), he has gotten himself into a win-win situation. If England does well with these players, he'll be praised for his ingenuity and boldness. If England fails miserably, he can still defend himself by saying he was giving these youngsters a run on the international stage and it will be for the good of England's future.

Furthermore, if Lennon and Walcott do well in future for England, there will definitely be mentioning of the man who had faith in them and blooded them early. What's even more incredible is how he cunningly says that he hasn't even watched Walcott play before and he's basing the selection on Arsene Wenger's recommendation.

It may seem that he has a great deal of respect for Monsieur Wenger's advice, but in truth, the wily old fox is putting responsibility for Walcott firmly on Wenger's shoulders. Who in the world doubts Wenger's ability to spot raw talent in a footballer? If he says Kerk is the next Henry, I'd probably wake up the next morning with Santa Abramovich offering a Christmas-come-early present.

"You want it to snow in Singapore? No problem. Sign here please."

*smattering of Russian to his cellphone so small I don't even see it*

HEADLINES : "ABRAMOVICH BUYS OVER PAP, THE OPPOSITION AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!! AIRPLANES LITTER SNOW ON UNSUSPECTING SINGAPOREANS!!!"

Editorial note on next day's papers : "We apologise for the mistake made in publishing yesterday's headlines. It should be Abramoreans and not Singaporeans. The offending writer has gone on a holiday. We doubt we will see him anytime soon as the Russian men in black suits and sunglasses who came by the office yesterday didn't really look like Ski Instructors."

Anyway, I still stick to my biased opinion that Sven has never been tactically astute enough for England. He's always relied heavily on the sheer quality of the English players. He was lucky to qualify for the 2002 World Cup with a last-gasp freekick special from Beckham. The match against Brazil showed how tactically clueless he was. With Brazil leading 2-1 but a man down, He chose to sub out goalscorer Michael Owen for Darius Vassell, leaving Heskey on.

If I desperately want a goal, I would never ever ever choose Heskey over Owen. Ever. Scolari with ten men managed to tactically outsmart a clueless England for the last half hour to qualify and eventually win the tournament.

Wind Forward to Euro 2004. Wayne Rooney took them all the way to the quarterfinals when he got injured in the 27th minute. Cue mayhem as Portugal looked for the equaliser. Scolari (Bane of England!!) daringly subbed out his captain and Portugal's golden son, Figo for Postiga. Sven's answer was Phil Neville for Paul Scholes in an attempt to defend the lead.

Again, I understand he may trying to defend the lead. I also know that at no time at Man Utd has Phil Neville ever threatened Paul Schole's position in midfield. But I guess the loss of his Superstar Rooney caused him to panick as he had no Plan B. And guess who equalised for Portugal? Postiga!!

Ok, all the way forward to the qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup. England shockingly lost 1-0 to Northern Ireland for the first time in 33 years. This was because Sven succumbed to Beckham's desire to play in the centre of the park.

He made Beckham the 'quarterback' of the team. It seemed like a tactically ingenious move to take advantage of Beck's long passing skills. But it was merely a return to the good old english style of punting longballs at the opponents.

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were hopelessly lost in that 'quarterback' formation. 2 of the world's top midfielders limited to tackling and passing to Becks to pump at the front 3 of Rooney,Owen and SWP.

Note that 2 out of the 3 though pacy, are not exactly the tallest or most physically intimidating players in the world. They struggled to win the long balls as Northern Ireland took a very physical approach.

Ok, time to move to the here and the now. I think for England to win the World Cup, Becks must stay on the right. He's won so many trophies as a right midfield with his deadly crosses but I can't remember the last time he won a trophy as a centre mid.

Also, if Sven wants to be recognised as a great manager, the main problem is how he'll bring the best out of Lampard and Gerrard, 2 of the best players in the world. Giving them both freedom to attack will leave the defence unprotected. Using either one of them as a defensive midfield is a waste, though Gerrard would be able to function with his crunching tackles and passes from deep so Sven will probably earmark him for this role. Sven's other choice is to let them share duties. When one goes up to support the attack, the other stays deep to cover up.

Sven has been England manager for so many years, yet he cannot find a way to make Gerrard and/or Lampard reproduce their club form for England. This is the most serious problem affecting England even though the Hoo-Ha's all over Rooney, Owen's strike partner and the naming of the 23-men squad.

Good Luck to England!! Who knows? They might prove me wrong and win it with Becks as a centre mid, Theo Walcott terrorizing the opposition defence and Gerrard and Lampard scoring goals galore. They might even win a penalty shootout!!

My pre-tournament Top 3 are Brazil,Italy and Argentina, in that order. I see the two dark horses will be Germany and Holland, in that order too. But more about them on another day. It's dawn!! Uggghhhhh!!