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Fears grow over England harmony

Fabio Capello's management style has come into question © Getty Images

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Widespread reports on Sunday morning claim there is disharmony in the England camp and that Fabio Capello expects to leave if England fail to beat Slovenia and seal progress to the second round.

England were viewed among the pre-tournament favourites after an impressive qualification campaign but, after taking just one point against USA and a dismal 0-0 draw with Algeria, they are now under heavy pressure and there are reports that the players are unhappy with Capello's approach.

Pavlos Joseph, the England fan who broke into the dressing room after the Algeria game, told the Sunday Mirror he spoke to FIFA competitions co-ordinator Mark Lindon as he was removed: "I said to him, 'The atmosphere in there is shocking'. He said to me: 'If you think that was bad, you should have been here at half time'."

The Sunday Telegraph claims "the England management team have conceded that the players are unhappy with some of Capello's methods, that the players' confidence is at its lowest in his time in charge and that the tactical system needs to change for the crucial final group game with Slovenia on Wednesday".

Several papers say Capello would leave the £6 million-a-year post should England's World Cup campaign end on Wednesday although, when asked about his future, the Italian said it was a discussion for another time. "It's too early to speak about that," he said. "We have to wait. We have time to answer that question. Okay?"

Capello had often talked of the fear England showed when he took over the job, particularly the poor showings at Wembley, but he remains bemused by the level of performance on Friday.

"I am surprised," he said. "I can remember exactly what happened in the first game we played against Switzerland at Wembley after I took over. I also remember after we beat Croatia away we started to play differently. Now I hope it will be the same.

"We have to play like we train, but the problem is not only when we win the ball. We have to win it back quickly. We have to press the opponents to win back the ball. I want to see that spirit.

"The fear of the World Cup is in the mind of the players. It is incredible. The performance in training is good, but the players on the pitch are not the same ones that I know."

Changes seem inevitable ahead of the crunch clash with Slovenia. "No one is untouchable in my mind," Capello said. "For the game I can change players. I can do different things. We have time to prepare."

Wayne Rooney has been particularly disappointing in South Africa and, having suffered a string of injury problems with Manchester United towards the end of the season, many feel that he has simply not recovered his fitness, but Capello feels it is purely a psychological issue.

"He is completely fit," he said. "He has trained and he has been on the pitch for as long as any other player. He is perfect. The problem is in the mind. I know this. I was a player. I remember these moments. In the mind you are okay - then you get to the pitch."

He added: "He is always dangerous for the opposition because of his movement and general play. I know he gave the ball away a lot [against Algeria] and some of his passes were not good, but he is still an important player."

Captain Steven Gerrard says England have to learn to turn the pressure into a positive if they are to succeed this summer.

"There is a lot of pressure on the guys. There is no lying about that," he said. "There is a lot of tension because we want to stay in this tournament for a long time, but we knew that coming into it, that there was always going to be big pressure, and as players you've got to accept that.

"You've got play under that pressure and play well.

"We prepared really well for the Algeria game. Going into it we felt good, and unfortunately we haven't delivered the result we wanted. We need to get back to the form we showed in qualifying. In qualifying, we had the majority of the team firing on all cylinders

"We need to recover the spirit really quickly and get back to the form we showed then."

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