Before his adventures abroad, the Swedish manager took on Europe’s top clubs with a team full of plumbers and electricians – and won
had just been eliminated by Twente in the first round of the Uefa Cup when the board asked their young manager what was required to make progress in Europe. “I need three new players,” said a 32-year-old Sven-Göran Eriksson. “A goalkeeper, a left-back and a forward.”
Some players took to Eriksson’s methods immediately and those who did not were quickly moved on, such as Nordqvist and Ralf Edström. Eriksson may have been young at the time but he had already met people whose influences would stay with him for the rest of his career. It was something completely new to football and not appreciated by everyone. “A Norwegian psychologist, what the hell is this?” asked one of the players, but that year Degerfors were promoted and Eriksson continued to use Railo’s methods of positivity throughout his career .Eriksson’s style of play was extremely structured.
That led to a quarter-final against Valencia in March 1982, two months before the Swedish season was due to start. Amid financial turmoil, that tie was won 4-2 on aggregate, before Stig Fredriksson, one of the players bought with the money raised by the board members the previous year, settled the semi-final against Kaiserslautern with a penalty in extra time of the second leg.
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