Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he fears for England's Euro 2004 chances, because of a lack of a break in the long and "exhausting" Premiership season.
Speaking to leaguemanagers.com, Fergie said: "Well there is no doubt that they are playing a major tournament at the wrong time of the season. That’s always been the case.
"The only time they won it is when they had the tournament in their own country.
"In fact one of the few times they were successful and got to the semi-finals, was the tournament in 96 in England, and they played all their games at Wembley and that was an advantage.
"It would help them to overcome the bigger disadvantage of the terribly exhausting season we have, with the lack of a mid-season break.
"Germany have incorporated it and proved it successful by their results in World Cup football.
"Player wise, I think they've got half a dozen who are as good as any in Europe. But ultimately, for England to have a proper chance, they need to go in fresher, and if they were fresher, then yes, they would have an outstanding chance.
So who does the Scot think will lift the trophy in Portugal on July 4th?
"France must be favourites," he declared.
"They have goalscorers – they can play Trezeguet, who is a fantastic finisher. Or they can play Thierry Henry, Pires, Zidane, or Saha.
"If you even think about ones who are on the fringes like Marlet and Wiltord they've all got a proven record at scoring goals so France have got to be favourites."
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