England don't pass muster for Beckenbauer

Rustenburg: Franz Beckenbauer has offered a damning assessment of England under Fabio Capello by saying they "have gone backwards" and are reverting to long-ball football.

The German, who won the World Cup as a player, in 1974, and a coach, in 1990, will have annoyed Capello with his verdict, which came in the wake of England's opening Group C encounter with the United States on Saturday.

"What I saw of the English in their 1-1 draw against the USA had very little to do with football," Beckenbauer said. "It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old days of kick and rush.

"I am not sure if the England coach, Fabio Capello, can still change much there. The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the English Premier League clubs, as they use better foreign players from all over the world."

Beckenbauer's comments were made in a column in a South African newspaper, The Times, and will stoke the tension between England and Germany, who could meet in the last 16 should one nation win their group and the other be runners-up in theirs.

Germany, who are in Group D, certainly enjoyed a more impressive, and better quality, start to their World Cup campaign, sweeping aside a poor Australia side 4-0. The result increased the pressure on Capello, who brought his squad out to South Africa earlier than their rival nations because he wanted to be better prepared and was hoping to gain a victory in England's first match against their toughest group opponents.

With injuries also biting into the squad and with some of his selections Robert Green in goal and James Milner on the left of midfield backfiring, Capello is facing the first serious questions since he was appointed England manager at the start of 2008. He will certainly bridle at Beckenbauer's verdict on the football England play under him.

In his first match in charge, against Switzerland in February 2008, he identified that the players were too dependent on hitting the ball long and has tried to instil a passing — as well as a pressing game. Indeed after that match, Capello's right-hand man, Franco Baldini, commented on the lack of "technical skill" in the squad.

However, he may also agree with Beckenbauer's verdict that England have fewer players from whom to choose. Capello has spoken about this himself in the past, citing the low percentage of eligible players he has for his squad who play in the Premier League — 35 per cent and privately admitting that beyond a core of 14-15 players he trusts, he has a relatively shallow pool of talent.