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Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov: England will not win a major tournament until Premier League introdcues a winter break
Bulgarian was not surprised the Three Lions were eliminated early...
18 Jul 2010 00:47:00
By Anthony Sciarrino
Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov believes England will not win another major international tournament unless the Premier League institutes a mid-winter break.
Petrov will lead Bulgaria against England in six weeks time to open Euro 2012 qualifying, and the 31-year-old admitted he was not shocked that the Three Lions exited World Cup 2010 early this summer.
“I wasn’t surprised at England’s performance in South Africa because if you look at most of the players, the amount of games they had played is unbelievable,” Petrov told The Mirror.
“Every single country has a winter break, they have two or three weeks at Christmas and New Year, but in that time the English probably play 11 or 12 games and that’s really hard for them.
“They are human. You can see Wayne Rooney and how he was outstanding during the season, but then in the World Cup he wasn’t sharp at all. But if you understand the amount of games he played in the season I think it’s normal.
“We tried a winter break in Scotland when I was playing for Celtic and it was great for clearing up injuries - and if England want to do something at a big tournament they should think about how they get their players fit and ready for it.
“They need to be fresh. Look how fresh other teams were and it wasn’t surprising, to be honest, that England struggled.”
With England boss Fabio Capello thinking of calling up some new players into the Three Lions set-up, Petrov hopes that Bulgaria can upset England in their first competitive match since the World Cup.
“I hope it could be like that, but it could just as easily be the worst time to meet them because there will be new players looking to make an impact," he added.
“I’m looking forward to it, and I’ve no doubt Capello will make quite a few changes. So we know we will need to be ready tactically and mentally.
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Petrov will lead Bulgaria against England in six weeks time to open Euro 2012 qualifying, and the 31-year-old admitted he was not shocked that the Three Lions exited World Cup 2010 early this summer.
“I wasn’t surprised at England’s performance in South Africa because if you look at most of the players, the amount of games they had played is unbelievable,” Petrov told The Mirror.
“Every single country has a winter break, they have two or three weeks at Christmas and New Year, but in that time the English probably play 11 or 12 games and that’s really hard for them.
“They are human. You can see Wayne Rooney and how he was outstanding during the season, but then in the World Cup he wasn’t sharp at all. But if you understand the amount of games he played in the season I think it’s normal.
“We tried a winter break in Scotland when I was playing for Celtic and it was great for clearing up injuries - and if England want to do something at a big tournament they should think about how they get their players fit and ready for it.
“They need to be fresh. Look how fresh other teams were and it wasn’t surprising, to be honest, that England struggled.”
With England boss Fabio Capello thinking of calling up some new players into the Three Lions set-up, Petrov hopes that Bulgaria can upset England in their first competitive match since the World Cup.
“I hope it could be like that, but it could just as easily be the worst time to meet them because there will be new players looking to make an impact," he added.
“I’m looking forward to it, and I’ve no doubt Capello will make quite a few changes. So we know we will need to be ready tactically and mentally.
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