Glenn Hoddle's England team is beginning to dissolve before his eyes. Just how soluble his interest in remaining England's coach proves to be may well depend on the next match, at home to Bulgaria on October 10th.
No sooner had England begun their attempt to qualify for the 2000 European Championship by losing 2-1 to Sweden on Saturday than Hoddle was being cross examined about the possibility of his returning to White Hart Lane as manager, Christian Gross having conveniently parted company with Tottenham a few hours earlier.
Hoddle trotted out the standard line about having two years to go on his present contract and that talks with the Football Association about an extension were pending, and that if every England manager whose team performed badly in September were to walk out, the post would have changed hands a couple of dozen times by now.
Nevertheless, the present incumbent has had easily the worst weekend since he took over from Terry Venables two years ago. Apart from anything else, Hoddle is the first England manager-coach to lose an opening qualifier.
Not only are there now doubts about the wisdom of persisting with 3-5-2 but also Hoddle's ability to raise a quorum of international quality in midfield for the Bulgaria match. Paul Ince, sent off on Saturday for two bookings, is suspended for that game, David Beckham will be completing a two-match ban after his red card against Argentina in the World Cup and at the moment David Batty is unfit.
Lee, Ray Parlour, Nicky Butt, and Steve McManaman will all come into the equation, while the perceptive passing of Jamie Redknapp enhanced England's midfield in the Rasunda Stadium until the Swedes upped the pace and left him behind.
David Seaman was not wholly to blame for Sweden's goals but he was partly at fault with both, just as he had been in Rotterdam five years earlier when Holland beat Graham Taylor's team 2-0 in the World Cup. In front of Seaman, Hoddle's three-man defence pitched and tossed around a floundering Adams. Sol Campbell, eventually forced off with a hip injury, and Gareth Southgate were able to cover his mistakes up to a point but yet again the ball was rarely played from the back to any constructive purpose.
In attack the reluctance of Michael Owen, ineffective after an early caution for a two-footed foul on Patrik Andersson, to drop deeper to link up the play a la Teddy Sheringham did not help the persevering Alan Shearer and both strikers lacked decent service.
Systems are only as good as the players within them and the principal reason why England lost in Stockholm, having taken the lead after a mere 74 seconds, is that too many individual performances fell way below par.
When a hitherto humdrum Swedish side suddenly scored twice around the half-hour Hoddle's team failed to respond, the passing fell apart, the opposition chased and tackled like demons thereafter and the dismissal of Ince after 66 minutes left England to save the game with 10 men.
Ince was the sixth England player to be sent off in internationals and the second in successive matches. While he will hardly experience the vilification suffered by Beckham, Ince's behaviour was no less reprehensible.
Having been cautioned for a foul on Jorgen Petterson, the Liverpool player received a second yellow card, followed by the red, for a reckless high challenge from behind on Henrik Larsson, whom he then attempted to haul up by the dreadlocks.
On being dismissed by Collina, Ince then mouthed obscenities at the referee, accompanied by digital gestures, as he was ushered away by Shearer.
All three goals in the match punished poor goalkeeping. Magnus Hedman, having lined up the wall for Shearer's free-kick, promptly stood behind it and was beaten by a shot in off the far post.
After 30 minutes the strength of Stefan Schwarz's free-kick surprised Seaman, who could only push it out to Andreas Andersson. His mis-hit shot took a deflection off Adams and then spun into the net despite a second attempt by Seaman to keep it out. Two minutes later Pontus Kaamark's centre ricocheted off Scholes and Johan Mjallby scored with a header which might have been prevented by Seaman being quicker off his line.
"After an ideal start our passing went haywire," the England coach reflected. "A few people out there could have played better and we didn't do enough to turn the game around.
"Losing is not a disaster at this stage in the qualifiers but it's taken us back a step. Certainly the game against Bulgaria at Wembley is now one we've got to win."
Sweden: Hedman, Nilsson, P. Andersson, Bjorklund, Kamark (Lucic 83), Schwarz, A. Andersson (D. Andersson 90), Mjallby, Ljungberg, Larsson, Petterson. Subs Not Used: Kihlstedt, Sundgren, Erlingmark, Svensson, Zetterberg. Booked: Schwarz. Goals: A. Andersson 30, Mjallby 32.
England: Seaman, Campbell (Merson 75), Le Saux, Ince, Adams, Southgate, Anderton (Lee 43), Redknapp, Shearer, Owen, Scholes (Sheringham 87). Subs Not Used: Keown, Martyn, Hinchcliffe, Wright. Sent Off: Ince (67). Booked: Owen, Ince, Redknapp. Goals: Shearer 2.
Referee: P Collina (Italy).
