World Cup winner George Cohen believes England can triumph in Germany "in spite of" manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The former Fulham captain, who played at right-back when England beat West Germany to lift the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966, is no fan of the Swede.

Cohen has been less than impressed by recent friendly showings even though Uruguay were beaten 2-1 earlier in the month and Argentina 3-2 in November.

He said of Eriksson: "I haven't got a great deal of confidence in him. We can win it in spite of him but the fact is we are making the same mistakes. I would like to see more team-work and cohesion.

"We didn't show much of that against the Uruguayans the other day. I thought we were quite dreadful to be honest - against what I consider to be a very ordinary international side.

"If you go back to the Argentina game where we won it in the last seconds the Argentines didn't come off the pitch looking glum with their heads down.

"In fact their officials were smiling as they had completely out-played us in long stretches of the game and they were without some of their best players.

"But we are still in there with a shout. And let's face it, we haven't got to do a great deal to qualify for the latter stages have we? Trinidad and Tobago sounds like a cigarette company to me but all due respect to them, they will come out and give us a game.

"Then we have got Paraguay and although I don't know much about them I don't see how they could possibly beat us. Then we have Sweden, which will be our most difficult game. We haven't beaten them for a long time so it is about time we did.

"We do have the players but they must gel as a side. At the moment it is a lot of individuals."

The 66-year-old was also keen for Wayne Rooney to stay fit, especially as Michael Owen's injury problems had turned him into a "lurker" in Cohen's eyes.

He said: "I would like to see Rooney play further up the pitch than he has been doing. He has been used in very much a defensive role lately and I can't understand why.

"Where we need him is up the front with whoever he is going to play with. Owen is the one I would chose here but he hasn't shown a great deal lately. He has been injured a lot and has definitely lost a good two yards.

"They have put him on the weights to strengthen him up but that has cost him dearly in suppleness in his ability to get off the mark. He has become more of a "lurker" than a sprinter who takes people on.

"He is not as effective as he was when he was younger. You would have to play him with Rooney and we will just have to hope this boy doesn't get an injury before or during it.

"Then there is the question of whether or not Rooney can keep his cool against deliberate provocation or end up taking a swing at someone.

"For me a leopard never changes its' spots, although he is trying very hard to his credit."