Loew slates "old, slow" England flops

German coach Joachim Loew last night branded England too old and too slow and claimed his side's better team spirit explained why they spanked Fabio Capello's men.

Loew refused to back down in the verbal sparring before today's quarter-final clash with Argentina as he accused the South Americans of planning a "cut-throat fight" for World Cup survival.

But the Germany manager's brutal put-down of Capello's team - and the midfield combination of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in particular - was a final insult to add to the injury done in Bloemfontein last Sunday.

Loew said: "I don't know what could have made England so tired for the game against us and don't know how they prepared.

"But during the game, we knew we could add to the speed of our play but when I looked at Gerrard or Lampard, who are strong players who play quickly, I saw them running around but not up to the speed I'm used to.

"We had prepared very intensively. The season was long, so it might have been difficult for our players to take intensive training, but we have a young team.

"They can take that. They regenerate very well the day after a heavy session. We are in perfect shape physically."

While Capello had to deal with internal grumblings over his strict training ground regime Loew implicitly drew attention to the genuine camaraderie of his side as he added: "We can be very happy with what we've achieved so far, both in results and in the way we've played.

"We represent Germany abroad, so we have to present ourselves in a good light.

"The team is united, the mood is excellent. We've been together 50 days now, so you can't take it for granted that the mood's great, but it is. We play with each other and for each other.

"We won't change our approach now but to help motivate the the team we will show them video footage of our fans back home celebrating the goals against England, to add to the emotion in the lead-up to the game."

Today's clash at the Green Point Stadium has been fuelled by inflammatory comments from both teams after the massed brawl which broke out at the end of their last eight meeting in Berlin four years ago.

Loew, Jurgen Klinsmann's No 2 in 2006, added: "Bastian Schweinsteiger gave his personal view and in Germany we believe in freedom of speech.

"The Argentinian people are very warm and hospitable but the way they play doesn't match the character of the nation.

"We know it will be a cut-throat fight because they're very aggressive on the pitch, at the very limit of what is allowed, although I don't think they were violent or unfair during the 120 minutes.

"That only came after the penalty shoot-out. So maybe we have to win this one before penalties. But we know we will have to win against the highest possible resistance."