SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON admitted he was surprised to see his “hot-tempered” former striker Wayne Rooney as a manager.
Rooney, 36, reached a $1million-a-year agreement this summer to return to the MLS and lead DC United.
He stepped down as Derby’s gaffer following their relegation to League One but gained a lot of respect for fighting a 12-point deduction.
And Eriksson, now 74, spoke to BoyleSports and confessed that he wouldn’t have pictured England’s leading ever goal scorer on the sidelines.
He said: “It surprised me as a coach, Wayne Rooney, I couldn’t see him as a manager when he was a player but of course he was very young when I had him.
“Rooney for me was a surprise. But it’s nice to see ex-players being managers.
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“Rooney’s way of being, he had a hot temper now and then at his young age of course.
“It’s difficult, but of course I had him when he was 17 and I had him for three or four years so maybe he was too young to show those things at that time.
The ex-England boss also discussed the rest of his Three Lions squad and their current roles in football.
Eriksson also revealed that he always thought David Beckham should stay away from management.
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But he reckons current Premier League gaffers Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are made for the role.
He added: “Frank Lampard, he’s coming from a football family so I think he’s grown up with football every day. So it’s natural that he became a coach.
“Steven Gerrard as a player was very quiet but very clever on the pitch, thinking a lot.
“I thought Juan Sebastian Veron, who played for Manchester United and Lazio, would be an excellent manager but he never tried I don’t think.
“Beckham. He’s one I never thought should be a manager.
“I admire Beckham for many things of course, but he had so many things going on around him, not only football but a lot of other things, he could handle it in an excellent way.
“I thought he would be a businessman or whatever when he was finished. He could be an ambassador for all the clubs he played for and for England of course.”
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Eriksson has admitted Beckham’s wife Victoria “didn’t make it easy” for his team at the 2006 World Cup.
He opened up on the infamous Wag summer that rocked his team at the Germany showcase.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
