Liverpool supporters have called for the club to grant former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson his unfulfilled Anfield wish.
The Swede revealed this week that he has pancreatic cancer and the “best case” is that he has one year left to live, adding that one of his regrets was that he never managed his boyhood club, Liverpool.
Eriksson was in charge of the Three Lions for five years between 2001 and 2006, where he managed Liverpool icons such as Steven Gerrard. The 75-year-old also enjoyed spells in the Premier League with Manchester City and Leicester City. He predominantly had success with IFK Goteborg, Benfica and in Serie A with Roma, Sampdoria and Lazio.
Speaking to Sky News this week, Eriksson spoke about how his dad supported Liverpool and how that love for the club passed to down to him – following the Reds all his life.
“My father is still a Liverpool supporter and I am a Liverpool supporter too, always have been,” he said. “So I always wished to be the manager of Liverpool and that will not happen, but I’m still a Liverpool fan.”
Despite never managing in the home dugout on Merseyside, Eriksson has previously been an opposition manager at Anfield twice. His last encounter with the Reds was a 1-0 defeat in 2008, which came during his time with Manchester City, and before that in 1984 when his Benfica side were edged out by Joe Fagan’s Liverpool.
Supporters have called on the club to act and make Eriksson the manager for the upcoming Legends match against Ajax in March. Typically, Sir Kenny Dalglish takes up the position in the dugout alongside Ian Rush. but following the news of his terminal illness, fans have made a special request.
Liverpool fan Douglas Horne, who runs the YouTube account ‘The Doug-Out’, made the suggestion on X, writing: “Let’s get Sven to manage the Liverpool legends v Ajax one last dream for him.”
“I think people would think it a lovely thing,” The Anfield Wrap’s John Gibbons told Sky News.
“He’s a popular person, but knowing that he’s got this dream of being a Liverpool manager all this time just kind of hit home for those Liverpool fans even more really. We’ve got a legends game coming up in March, so a lot of Liverpool legends come back every year.
“It raises a lot of money for the fantastic LFC Foundation and there’s maybe a role there to manage that team. It might be a legends game but it’s always close to a full house at Anfield.
“A lot of great players, ex-players you know, play and it’s a wonderful occasion. I’m sure as he’s leading the teams out, you know this is Anfield, they will play You’ll Never Walk Alone it’ll feel like the closest thing.
“I’ve seen quite a few Liverpool fans mention that and I think it’s a fantastic idea. It’s not my idea, but it’s one I’ve seen and I think it would be absolutely brilliant. Kenny Dalglish normally does it and he’s done it loads of times, so I’m sure he’d be quite happy to pass it on to Sven because he’s such a fantastic popular football man throughout the country.
“I’m sure everyone would love to see him do it.”
