Fabio Capello has blamed the tiredness of the players in the England squad for their poor performance during the World Cup finals.

The Italian is in favour of emulating Germany - England's 4-1 conquerors in a last 16 clash yesterday - in having a winter break.

Capello believes his squad were not in the same condition physically or mentally as when they impressed in their qualifying group when winning nine out of 10 matches.

England only looked anywhere near their best against Slovenia when they played the same sort of high-tempo game prevalent in the Premier League but they were unable to sustain it.

Capello said: "All the English players were really tired at this competition.

"I spoke with the coaches and they all told me the physical and mental situation of the players was not like the players we know.

"The players that played were at their best during qualification and in the autumn period.

"All the players were not as good as I know they are because they played not as fast and quick like in the other games.

"I can see seven games from Egypt, Mexico, Japan, the friendly game (with Platinum Stars), the World Cup games, where we played well at moments but not so fast as I can remember.

"I learnt a lot from this tournament. The players trained very hard and were very focused every time - but the performances were not the level I know.

"Probably they are really tired every time we play a competition in June."

When asked if he would favour a winter break, Capello said: "Yes. I think Germany always arrive at the second part of the season and do very well in the Champions League.

"It is really important to recover before this spell but it is not my job to decide about the calendar."

Capello admitted he spoke about the possibility of bringing in younger players for the Euro 2012 campaign in a meeting today with Club England chairman Sir David Richards.

But he dismissed the claim that the likes of Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson would have been fresher than the players available in South Africa.

Capello said: "We spoke about younger players that we can play for the next qualification (group) and what I have to do.

"When I choose the players for the World Cup, it is after I follow them all for a long time.

"I decided to go with the players who finished the season beat.

"I don't know how many players were fresher than the ones picked. For example, Johnson played a lot of games."

Capello was questioned about whether the 4-4-2 formation was now outdated.

But he insists the success of any system depends on players performing to high standards.

He said: "I think you can decide on different styles but always the success of the style depends on the form of the players.

"You can play different styles. We have played this style (4-4-2) for a long time and the results were good.

"Sometimes you can change, but I choose the style depending on the kind of players I have in my squad."