Sven-Goran Eriksson admits ‘it might’ve been better to stay at Lazio’ rather than taking the England job. ‘It was without doubt my happiest experience.’
It was 20 years ago today that his team won the Serie A title with wild celebrations at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
“I have remained a Lazio fan and that was the strongest team I ever coached,” Eriksson told Radio Radio in Italy.
Sven-Goran Eriksson admits ‘it might’ve been better to stay at Lazio’ rather than taking the England job. ‘It was without doubt my happiest experience.’
It was 20 years ago today that his team won the Serie A title with wild celebrations at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
“I have remained a Lazio fan and that was the strongest team I ever coached,” Eriksson told Radio Radio in Italy.
“It was perhaps one of the best teams in the world at that moment. We won so much in three-and-a-half years, we could probably have won even more, but it was without doubt my happiest professional experience.”
Now 72, the Swede left Lazio in January 2000 for a new adventure as the England manager, which lasted until the summer of 2006.
“A few times I thought to myself it might’ve been better to stay at Lazio and in Italy. But when an offer from the England team comes along, that’s once in a lifetime. I thought that I couldn’t say no and would’ve regretted it for the rest of my life if I had turned it down.
“Maybe I made a mistake, maybe not, who knows… it is what it is and we can’t change it now.
“Serie A in the 1980s and 90s was the best in the world, the most difficult, the most fascinating, everything. I had an offer from Barcelona at the same time as when I first came to Italy, but I said no because I wanted to work in Serie A.”
Many of the players Eriksson worked with at Lazio are now coaches, including current Italy boss Roberto Mancini, Atletico Madrid tactician Diego Simeone and Lazio’s Simone Inzaghi.
“I did expect some of them to become coaches, not so much others like Sergio Conceicao and Simeone, but I do feel quite proud to see them go on to such great careers. I hope they learned a little something from me.
“My specific request for Lazio was to sign Mancini, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Juan Sebastian Veron. Mancini was already over 30, but he had a winning mentality.
“We also had players there like Alessandro Nesta, Pavel Nedved, Simeone, Christian Vieri, Marcelo Salas, Hernan Crespo, Paolo Negro, Giuseppe Favalli, all wonderful. Beppe Signori found it insulting when he had to go on the bench sometimes, and I understand that perfectly well.”