World Cup 2006 Qualifying/ Austria 2; England 2: The wolves will be circling Sven-Goran Eriksson and his players in Silesia this week. After Saturday's result in Vienna, a draw that felt more like a defeat, England need three points from Poland on Wednesday if their manager is to hold the predators at bay.
A draw against a team ranked 30th in FIFA's world list would be just about enough keep him in the job until next month's meetings with Wales at Old Trafford and Azerbaijan in Baku. Already, however, his squad have squandered two points that would have given their Group Six campaign a flying start.
Just when Eriksson needed a convincing performance and a good result, against Austria his players gave him what must have been the least satisfactory match of his time in charge. They have lost bigger matches and they have looked more desperate. But in its bad timing, in its lack of genuine substance against insubstantial opposition and in its reiteration of England's inability to close out a contest that was there for the taking, this one was truly dispiriting for England fans.
For England's failure, Michael Owen must carry the bulk of the blame.
In Lisbon, as England went out of Euro 2004 against Portugal, not lowly Austria, Owen scored a goal that was a miracle of the goalscorer's instinct, meeting Costinha's misjudged back-header with an inventive flick. But no match in which he plays nowadays is complete without a couple of moments in which he is through on the goalkeeper yet fails to take advantage.
It happened twice on Saturday, and Owen's inability to finish cost England as dear as David James's pathetic error was later to do. At least Jermain Defoe hit the post with his chance - created, ironically enough, by Owen. In Wayne Rooney's absence, Defoe's confidence make him worth a shot in the starting line-up, even at Owen's expense.
Eriksson, however, is no more likely to drop Owen than he is to take the captain's armband away from David Beckham, whose deficiencies as a leader were again in evidence in Vienna.
In adversity, Beckham's idea of playing a captain's role is still to slip into his Mrs Thatcher impersonation, bustling all over the pitch with his elbows out, abandoning cool judgment in favour of a physical commitment that not only tends to bring diminishing personal returns but acts as a poor example to his team mates.
His wildly inconsistent performance on the right almost made one regret Steven Gerrard's late recovery from a groin strain. The Liverpool man's absence would have allowed Shaun Wright-Phillips to show whether he can bring a true winger's instinct to the right flank, while Beckham might have been more effective in the centre of midfield.
"We deserved to win," said Eriksson yesterday. But if he really believes that, he is sadly deluded. His players deserved exactly what they got: a point that leaves them poised, as usual, somewhere between respectability and mediocrity.
AUSTRIA: Manninger; Standfest, Stranzl, Hiden, Pogatetz; Aufhauser (Kiesenebner 74), Sick, Kühbauer, Ivanschitz; Glieder (Kollmann 68), Haas (Hieblinger 89). Subs not used: Mandl, Dospel, Katzer, Linz.
ENGLAND: James; G Neville, Terry, King, A Cole; Beckham, Gerrard (Carragher 82), Lampard, Bridge (J Cole 84); Smith (Defoe 76), Owen. Subs not used: Robinson, Dyer, Wright-Phillips, Vassell.
Referee: L Michel (Slovakia).
Guardian Service
