Possession problems dog Eriksson's advance

On the way out of the Ecopa Stadium was a small pile of information booklets: "Welcome to the 2006 Fifa World Cup Germany". Were it not for the pain they would cause to the elder members of the squad, one of whom suffered enough yesterday, Sven Goran Eriksson would be tempted to distribute them to his players this evening as in-flight reading.

That would reinforce the upbeat message he issued last night as the team headed back, for the last time, to their Awaji Island retreat. "I hope in four years' time we can do better," he said. "I think 90 to 95 per cent of the squad might be there then and hopefully they, myself and my staff have learned a lot."

Eriksson then confirmed that he would be staying on despite speculation to the contrary, adding: "I have never had any other thoughts."

Nor should he. While the speed with which his team resorted to type against Brazil's 10 men confirmed there is much work still to be done, Eriksson has made sound progress. Moreover, the youthful nature of his squad suggests there is scope for further improvement.

David Seaman, Martin Keown and Teddy Sheringham – though he insisted he could still contribute – are unlikely to be around for 2006. Nor even for the European Championships in Portugal in 2004. The rest of the squad should be available, though injury and loss of form is as inevitable as the emergence of other candidates. Ask Gareth Barry.

The Aston Villa defender may re-emerge but Eriksson is likely to try Matt Jansen, David Dunn and, court cases permitting, John Terry, Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, first. Then there are Alan Smith, Ledley King and Michael Carrick, who have already been capped, and the injury victims, Steven Gerrard, Gary Neville and Danny Murphy.

Eriksson's first chance to sift the mix of old and new will be in September when a friendly may be arranged prior to the the following month's opening Euro 2004 qualifier in Slovakia. England's other group opponents are Turkey, Macedonia and Liechtenstein. Since only Turkey should present a threat, the minimum of a play-off place should be achieved.

Whether England can then break a duck that will have extended to 38 years is another matter. Portugal, like Japan, will be hot and they will struggle in such conditions unless they change their playing style.

Although England improved the passing mix after the Sweden game, they still regularly played the ball long. That put huge physical demands on midfielders if they were to both support the strikers and shield the defence. The full-backs were also affected. They initially provided an attacking threat but struggled to get back. Eventually they stopped going beyond the outside midfielders and England lost width.

Even more importantly, England's inability to control possession meant they forever had to close down opponents as they attempted to win the ball back. In no World Cup game did England have a majority of possession and against Denmark they barely managed a third – a figure which looked like being matched yesterday until Brazil were reduced to 10 men. As in Euro 2000, it was only the high conversion rate achieved by the strikers which made England competitive.

Teddy Sheringham put the argument cogently when he said: "I'm very disappointed because it is another missed opportunity. We need to learn quickly and change our game. We had a very good tournament but we cannot afford to be chasing the ball for longer periods than we keep it. It is a little bit hit-and-miss when you play the game our way. Although we have had a couple of great results and done very well, to go further we have to look at the way other teams control games and really make opponents work. I might be in a minority position here but it is important."

While Eriksson likes counter-attacking football he also knows England have to keep the ball better. In seeking to develop this he is hamstrung by the frenzied nature of the Premiership, but the way teams such as Manchester United have refined their approach to European competition suggests it is not impossible. What is required is a greater emphasis on players who value possession and are comfortable with it.

This could mean finding alternatives to players such as Campbell who, though an excellent defender, has never been happy on the ball. Woodgate is one possibility. It could also involve re-integrating Steve McManaman who, for all his perceived faults, is better at ball-rotation, the unsexy but valuable art of close-passing in triangles, than any other English player. It would help, too, if other English players worked abroad, but that is unlikely to happen while Premiership wages remain among Europe's best.

Despite these caveats Eriksson will find much to be positive about when he reviews the campaign. Rio Ferdinand emerged as player of the highest class; Michael Owen increased his already impressive reputation to a level where he forces mistakes by his mere presence; Ashley Cole, Nicky Butt and the much-maligned Emile Heskey had good tournaments and will have learned much. Trevor Sinclair was a bonus and Danny Mills suggested he might have international pedigree after all.

"I think this has been a good tournament," Eriksson concluded. "We got through the toughest group, beat Argentina, beat Denmark in a convincing way, and for 45 minutes against Brazil it seemed like winning. We can leave with our heads held high."

Unless the lessons are learned, however, brave failure will remain England's forte. At least until 2008 when the European Championship could be held in the cooler climes of Scotland and Ireland, or Scandinavia. Neither Eriksson nor the FA want to wait that long.