Saturday 6 September 2014 15:23, UK
Switzerland defender Philippe Senderos believes that some of England's players struggle to cope with the weight of the nation's expectations.
The Aston Villa defender is preparing to welcome Roy Hodgson's side for Monday's European qualifier at St Jakob Park – the opening game in Group E.
Following England's disappointing group-stage exit from the World Cup, Switzerland made it to the last-16 of the tournament, where an extra-time Angel di Maria winner crushed their hopes of progressing through to the latter stages.
Having somewhat exceeded their pre-tournament predictions, Senderos admits he is unsure as to why England failed to live up to their high standards - but hinted that there was too much pressure on the Three Lions.
"It's possible that some players find the England shirt a little heavy," the former Arsenal man told The Sun.
"England are expected to win big games and go to every single tournament. With the players and the quality England have, it should be possible to do that and, to be fair, they have been qualifying for tournaments.
"Of course everyone expected more of them at the World Cup, but no games are easy at that level and it's hard to go through.
"I couldn't say where it went wrong for England. All I know is that they have enough players to pick a strong team against us."
The 29-year-old defender says there is less pressure on his Switzerland side to succeed, but is determined to help his country build on their reputation rather than standing still.
"It's different for Switzerland. For us it's still a massive achievement to qualify for any competition," he said.
"Obviously we've raised the bar really high by qualifying for the last three World Cups. Now if we don't qualify for a tournament it's going to be a big disappointment. But that's what you get with good results and performances.
"We want to continue doing that, to keep raising expectations. We want our level of football to be able to compete with the really big nations of football."
Despite performing better than their English counterparts during the World Cup, Senderos insists that Hodgson's team remain firm favourites for the clash in Basel.
"We are still a small country which is developing very well and qualifying for big tournaments," he said.
"But England are a massive country in world football and have a lot of players to pick from. They are still favourites.
"However, we are going to battle hard and try and start this new campaign on a good foot. Winning the first game gets you off to a positive start and you can do something special after that," he added.
"Looking at the group, I think we are probably the two favourites to qualify."
