England were 'killed by their own impatience', says Arsene Wenger

Fabio Capello's future as boss of the national team is under the spotlight following the Three Lions' woeful showing in South Africa, which ended with a 4-1 footballing lesson from a young German side on Sunday.

However, Wenger believes it could have been so different had the England players used their experience and not allowed themselves to be caught on the break as they pressed for an equaliser, which they had been cruelly denied when the officials failed to spot that Frank Lampard's lob had crossed the line.

"England were impatient," Wenger told www.arsenal.com.

"They came back in the second half to 2-1 and they controlled the game.

"What made me sad was that, with the experience they had, they were caught. It was 'free-kick for England, goal for Germany'.

"They had taken over the game and I think they were killed by their impatience.

"You do what they did with five minutes to go okay, but not with 25 minutes left."

Much has been made of the reasons for the poor showing of Capello's men in South Africa, where some of the Barclays Premier League's top players have failed to live up to expectations.

Capello claimed his squad were "tired" and needed a winter break.

Wenger - who did not have any Arsenal players in England's final 23-man party after winger Theo Walcott was omitted - believes it was more to do with England's failure to cope with the weight of expectation.

"Many teams start slow in the group stage," said the Gunners boss.

"I remember in 2006, France were horrible in the group stage, but they found momentum in the quarter-final and semi-final because they had no pressure any more.

"England suffered under pressure. They did not look sharp.

"Also England did not seem to be at the level to use their main strength - the huge pace they put in the game.

"Was that physical fatigue or a mental reason? I do not know, but you never found the sense of English football in there."