Arsene Wenger says England have no more than an "outside chance" at Euro 2012, after again ruling himself out as Fabio Capello's successor.The Arsenal manager has been pretty vocal about the England side of late, but does not rate their chances of success at the championships in Poland and Ukraine next summer.
Wenger said of England's hopes: "For me England are outsiders. They can maybe win it if they click just right at the time of the competition and their main players - (Steven) Gerrard, (Wayne) Rooney - are in fantastic form. "Gerrard has not played for a long time now but if he comes back in after a good rest in top form, then why not? And Capello has the quality to get the best out of the team,English triumph." Wenger believes Capello must take Rooney to Euro 2012 despite the Manchester United striker not being able to take part in the group stages because of his three-match UEFA ban.
The Arsenal boss, however, insists that his 18-year-old summer signing, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, could be ready for Fabio Capello's squad by then. Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a hat-trick for England Under-21 against Iceland in Reykjavik last week to underline his emergence as one of the country's top prospects. Wenger added: "I don't rule him out (of going to Euro 2012). It depends on his progress here. You cannot rule him out because he has the basic talent. In the next five, six months we will see how he adjusts to the physical intensity of the game." Wenger admits Oxlade-Chamberlain has surprised him with the speed with which he has settled in at the Emirates Stadium.
Walcott did not feature in any England games in Germany and he was left out of the squad four years later in South Africa. Wenger said: "Theo Walcott went at 17 years of age to the World Cup and Chamberlain is already 18 now. They are at different stages. "I believe that Chamberlain is more in the build-up of a game and Walcott is more striker minded. They are different types of players, both gifted." Wenger also believes the critics should be more understanding of Walcott, whose pace has been seen as one of England's biggest weapons but whose crossing has been suspect. He said: "I watched the England game (against Montenegro). I thought he worked hard for the team.
