Former England manager Fabio Capello has attributed the lackluster performance which has weakened the ‘Three Lions’’ challenge for major trophies to “tiredness.”
The English national youth setups had an awful 2013 summer campaign as both the Under-21 and the Under-20 squads failed to make it past the group stages of the European Championship and World Cup respectively.
On this day in 1966 England won their only World Cup and 47 years since then, they are struggling on international stages with a robust league system which has been undermined and often time referred to as the root of the problem.
Capelo, who presided over 42 matches as England boss between 2008 to 2012 (W28, L6, D8), disagrees with the much debated notion that the Premier League’s reliance on exports has prevented domestic talents to flourish.
The Italian told Fifa.com that English footballers have failed to emulate the success of the likes of Sir Geoff Hurst- the first man ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final- “because they’re tired (going into tournaments).
“They’re the least fresh of any of the competing national sides, because their league doesn’t have break.
“It’s like when you’re driving a car: if you stop halfway to put fuel in, then you’ll definitely get where you want to go, but if you don’t then there’s always the chance you’ll be running on empty before you reach your goal.
“In my opinion the football played in the first half of the English season is much better than in the second half,” Capello added.
“And because of that, if you want to be a competitive team in the Premier League, you need a really big squad, which is a luxury you don’t get with the national team.”
