Eriksson Calls for Improved Showing From 'awful' City

Sven-Goran Eriksson is demanding an improvement from Manchester City in tonight's FA Cup third-round replay against West Ham United after what, by his standards, amounts to some forthright criticism of his team, describing their last performance as "awful" and accusing certain players of "not trying".

Eriksson rarely has anything bad to say about his own side but the former England manager was unhappy with Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Everton and particularly the frequency with which his players resorted to long punts out of defence. "We kicked it long 18 times in the first 45 minutes and I have told the players that's not our style of play," he said. "I told them, 'We need to play football.' It was awful watching that first half. We didn't even try."

Famous for never raising his voice in the dressing room, Eriksson's criticisms could stem from the fact that the club's owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, was at Goodison Park and made no secret of his own displeasure. "He had the same opinion as all of us - that it was awful," said Eriksson. "When I spoke to him the first thing he said was, 'I'm recovering from the shock'. Nobody liked it and, if you asked the players, they would say the same. It wasn't one or two or three players, it was all of them."

City have slipped to seventh in the Premier League and, having already been knocked out of the Carling Cup, they are under pressure for the first time this season. Eriksson, however, was encouraged by the goalless draw at Upton Park 11 days ago. "I think we were the better team," he said. His failure to bring in anyone during the transfer window, apart from the Mexican forward Nery Castillo, has been a source of frustration to supporters. It has since become apparent that Shinawatra's funds are not endless but Eriksson still hopes to do some business.