England's players are too scared to perform, claims Craig Bellamy
The Wales striker Craig Bellamy believes the pressure placed on England's players has left them scared and unable to perform to their potential on the international stage.
Bellamy, who is preparing to face England in Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier in Cardiff, claims the intense media spotlight on Fabio Capello's side has prevented them from producing their best.
"Before the World Cup you had certain players being lined up to be knighted," Bellamy told the Daily Mail. "You're going into it with the best centre-half in the world, the best centre-forward in the world. But tournaments don't work out like that.
"Germany [who beat England in the last 16] were brilliant because they went with a group of players who were given freedom. England just looked – because so much was expected of them – tense, so tense. At the World Cup it was just too rigid. I thought they got broken in between the lines. It just didn't look right."
But Bellamy believes it is not just at major tournaments that the pressure gets to England's players, but also in lower-profile matches. "Are England players scared? I remember Steven Gerrard, before playing Andorra, saying he didn't want to give the ball away because he was afraid of the boos," he added.
"That's Steven Gerrard, one of the greatest players in the world over the past 10 years. He felt that, so imagine that environment? You look at the players, they got to Champions League finals. Do the players want it? Of course they do, they don't play for England for money."