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Shearer attacks Capello's England record

England were well beaten by France in midweek © Getty Images

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Former England striker Alan Shearer has questioned the progress of the national team under coach Fabio Capello and claims the highly-paid Italian doesn't even know his best XI.

Shearer, who made 63 appearances for England and captained the nation at the World Cup in 1998, insists there is no clear thinking or consistency in team selection.

"Fabio has been here two and a half years now and I'm not sure we've gone forward in that time," Shearer said. "If every England player was fit I'm not sure he would actually know what system he wanted to play or what team he wanted to play.

"If you look at before we went into the World Cup our qualifying campaign was a huge success but it seems that we have gone slightly backwards from that.

"I'm not sure what system we'd play or what XI we would play if everyone was fit. I don't know if the manager would either."

England's midweek 2-1 defeat by France at Wembley prompted a huge outcry about the quality of the national team and Shearer, who reached the semi-finals of Euro 96 under Terry Venables, believes the fans have to be more realistic in their expectation levels.

"The problem lies with the kids coming through. How are they taught? What are they taught?" Shearer told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme. "That is where you have to start from and it will take a long time. Unfortunately in this country we don't have patience.

"We always put so much pressure on our players that we go into every tournament wanting and expecting to win the tournament. Is that fair? I'm not sure it is."

The former Newcastle United striker also suggested English players are technically inferior to their foreign peers.

"I don't think anyone can argue that if you put a bunch of players against ours, yes we might have the fight and we might have the will, but I think technically it's obvious for everyone to see that we do lack and stand behind [other teams]," added Shearer.

"Yes, when you look at a Wayne Rooney or a Steven Gerrard, or look at a Frank Lampard or a Rio Ferdinand, then yes they would certainly get into other teams but, beneath that, that's where we have a problem."

Shearer, however, believes Newcastle's Andy Carroll, who made his England debut against France, is here to stay.

He said: "I've been hugely impressed with the way he has been on the football pitch. I know he has had one or two problems off it but he's young. We have got to give the guy a chance. On the pitch he has been a huge success.

"He has scored goals, the future is very bright for him. He's big, he's strong, he's horrible to play against and if he could control his lifestyle he could be a regular for a long time."

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