Sven-Göran Eriksson

Eriksson made his debut for Swedish football Division 4 team Torsby IF at the age of 16. He switched clubs to SK Sifhälla after moving to Säffle to study economics. In 1972, he joined Swedish football Division 2 team KB Karlskoga, where he also worked as a physical education teacher in Örebro. Eriksson was heavily influenced by Karlskoga's player-manager, Tord Grip, who favoured the English style of play that Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson had brought to the country. Eriksson retired from playing in 1975 at the age of 27, after giving up on his dream of playing professional football; he summed up his brief playing career by saying: "I was looked upon as a distinctly average defender, but someone who rarely made mistakes".

Degerfors IF

Having retired as a player, Eriksson received an offer to become Tord Grip's assistant at Degerfors IF. A year later, Grip was appointed assistant manager of the Sweden national team, and Eriksson became Degerfors' manager. His stint as manager lasted from 1 January 1977 to 31 December 1978. He led the team to the playoffs in 1977 and 1978, winning the latter and promotion to Swedish Football Division 2.

IFK Göteborg

Eriksson's success with assistant manager Tom Chadney by his side attracted the attention of much larger clubs, and Eriksson was appointed manager of IFK Göteborg on 1 January 1979. The move was such a surprise that many of the players had never even heard of him. IFK finished second in the Allsvenskan and won the Svenska Cupen for the first time in the club's history, defeating Åtvidabergs FF 6–1 in the final. Although results had improved, the team's style did not make him popular. He put results ahead of flair, emphasised tactical awareness and work rate, and he reined in the team's old cavalier style. As a consequence, the average attendance fell by 3,000 to 13,320. Like Grip, he was influenced by Houghton and Hodgson and played a 4–4–2 with zonal marking and heavy pressing. IFK finished third in the 1980 season and second again in 1981. The following season, they won the treble. The team won the League and subsequent playoff, the Svenska Cupen, defeating Östers IF 3–2 in the final. Eriksson's international breakthrough came…

Considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time, tactically, Eriksson was initially inspired by the style of his former teammate and manager Tord Grip early into his coaching career, who was in turn influenced by that of English managers Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson, who introduced an innovative 4–4–2 formation into Swedish football, which made use of zonal marking and heavy pressing. While Eriksson's style was successful at IFK Göteborg, he also drew criticism from the fans for being overly pragmatic as a coach, with a focus on getting results over playing with flair, and placing a particular emphasis on the tactical awareness and work-rate of his teams. During his time at Lazio, he also used a fluid 4–5–1 formation at times, in particular during the 1999–2000 season, which could become a 4–2–3–1, a 4–3–3, a 4–1–4–1, or a 4–4–2 throughout the course of a match. The team's gameplay was primarily based on creating a numerical advantage in the opposing half rather than controlling the ball, and through looking to attack and score as quickly as possible, while minimising risk. During the opening of matches, the team often played a vertical passing game, making use of long balls out from the back in an attempt to stretch their opponents, and create spaces for the team's more creative players to exploit. If this was done successfully, throughout the course of the match, the team would then play a series of many quick short passes in a more organised manner to build…

Sven-Göran Eriksson was born on 5 February 1948 in Sunne and raised in Torsby, both in Värmland, Sweden. His father, also named Sven (born 1929), was a bus conductor whilst his mother, Ulla (1926–2011), worked in a textile store. He was nicknamed "Svennis" after his younger brother Lars-Erik's attempt to pronounce his name; Eriksson went on to become known, and is generally referred to in Sweden mononymously, by this nickname.