Sol Campbell believes that the quality in English football is declining and feels that young players are becoming complacent.
The England Under-21 side crashed out of the European Championships at the group stage following defeats to Italy and Norway in Israel.
Campbell told The Mirror: "With the Under-21s, and football in general in England I honestly feel that the quality has gone down. There are some really good players coming up but on the whole a lot of them think they're there already.
"There's a lot of other countries round the world with very good players at the top of their game but they continue to work hard, not believing they've made it yet.
"They may be playing for their first team already but they don't lose it. You keep on learning, you've got to keep on striving. That's the way I feel English football has gone."
England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce has come under fire for the failure at the tournament and reports suggest that he will leave his position.
Simon Sinclair
