Wales striker Craig Bellamy insists that the underperforming nature of the England national team is due to the fans.<\/p>\n
The Cardiff City forward says that the pressure to perform at international level and not get booed by the supporters is so high that the players are unable to play to their potential.<\/p>\n
“I watched them in the World Cup last summer like everybody else, and I don’t buy into the idea that England ain’t good enough,” Bellamy said, according to the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n
“The other thing that people always say is that the England players don’t want it enough, but that’s rubbish, too.<\/p>\n
“Before the tournament, there was so much optimism you had certain players being lined up to be knighted. England were 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.”<\/p>\n
The Three Lions qualified into the knockout stage of the tournament, where they were beaten 4-1 by rivals Germany.<\/p>\n
“Germany were brilliant because they went with a group of players who were given freedom. Because so much was expected of them, England just looked tense, so tense,” added Bellamy.<\/p>\n
“When I was playing at Liverpool, I know some of the England players were scared when they played for England. I remember Steven Gerrard, before playing Andorra, saying that for the first time he didn’t want to risk giving the ball away because he was afraid of the boos.<\/p>\n
“I remember looking at him and thinking: ‘That’s Steven Gerrard, one of the greatest players in the world over the last 10 years and he felt that’.<\/p>\n
“Imagine the environment at that game. And you tell me players go there just for prestige? They are top, top players. They don’t need that.<\/p>\n
“Every tournament England go into, I actually think they can win it. Maybe that’s me trying to convince myself, so I’m prepared just in case they do.<\/p>\n
“For me, in the World Cup, England were just too rigid. I thought they got broken in between the lines. It just didn’t look right.”<\/p>\n
Wales, who face England on Saturday, have lost their opening three qualifiers for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, and the former Liverpool striker believes the appointment of Gary Speed will breathe new life into the nation’s football.<\/p>\n
However, Bellamy warned that it may take time for the new boss to show what he can do on the international stage.<\/p>\n
He said: “Wales are in a transitional period. We have a new manager who is going to take a couple of years to stamp his identity on us, but he is aware that we need to change.<\/p>\n
“The only way we can achieve anything as a football nation is for people like me, and former players, to work within Welsh football and to do it for free – to give something back.<\/p>\n
“I feel we have to start getting an identity as a nation, so we can say: ‘This is how we play and these are the type of players we produce.’<\/p>\n
“The Welsh FA have made a great choice in Gary, but is facing England in his second game great timing for him to show what he can do?<\/p>\n
“I feel there will be a difference in how we play, and you will see that, but it’s over two or three years that you’ll see a real difference.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/201ed65bget.media_1145-150x90.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Continued here:
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