Pele says England's players - not manager Steve McClaren - will be to blame if they fail to qualify for next year's European Championships.

He said: "England have problems as they are limited for choice.

"When their No 1 players in any position are injured they don't have the replacements.

"It's normal all over the world that the coach is blamed when things don't go right.

"But it is sometimes the whole team and not just the management that is to blame.

"England have a strong team but Brazil had the best team in 1982 and lost the World Cup. The coach is not the problem."