Chris Marsh on England's chances

Walsall legend Chris Marsh believes this World Cup could all end in tears for England as the team look to pick themselves up against Algeria on Friday.

I fear for England. I'm as English as they come and desperately want them to do well but, are they good enough? Probably not.

I watched Germany hammer Australia and if we get the Germans in the second round we've had it.

Can we beat the top teams who have a Lionel Messi, a Kaka and Torres? No.

If Wayne Rooney performs then we have a chance, but it is an awful lot of pressure to put on the shoulders of someone so young.

It can't all be down to him because, as we saw against the United States, we lack any creativity if he is stifled. But the problems all come down to the defence.

The issues at the back have highlighted how frail England are. We lose Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King and we're down to Matthew Upson, Michael Dawson and Jamie Carragher.

Upson struggled at West Ham, Carragher is rusty at international level and Dawson has never played for England.

Then you've got the goalkeeping debate, after Robert Green's error against the States.

I would still keep him in against Algeria on Friday. If Fabio Capello drops him it would be like admitting he made a mistake in the first place – the manager has to give Green a chance to redeem himself.

As a defender, you want to know who your goalkeeper is going to be. Everyone is different and you need to react to them.

It doesn't help not knowing and any changes will cause more problems. Different players will have their own opinions, they won't voice them in public, but you can bet John Terry has his preferred goalkeeper.

I was lucky enough to play with Fred Barber and Jimmy Walker at Walsall. Fred was a lunatic but was fantastic, as was Jimmy, but back then we knew who our goalkeeper would be.

We were a unit and had confidence in each other. There seems to be a lack of confidence at the back and England just can't keep a clean sheet. In the 25 games under Capello we've only had seven.

There's a lack of pace at the back and, naturally, you then stand off the attackers. That has a knock-on effect as the midfield sit deeper and then when the ball goes forward they aren't able to support the strikers.

If England come up against any teams with pace they will struggle.

I know we've got the best left-back in the world in Ashley Cole – whatever you think of him – but the rest of the back four has no pace.

Carragher looks like he will play on Friday but how quickly did he get found out against the States?

But beating Algeria shouldn't be a problem – if we don't get out of the group we deserve shooting.

We have to give them respect and there's no way they will prepare like it's going to be easy.

I would like to say they got caught cold against America but they weren't – they prepared enough – so that should ensure they are completely prepared for Friday.

Capello will make sure they're not complacent. He reminds me of Ray Graydon and Chris Nichol, who I played under at Walsall. They were both big on discipline, rules and regulations.

Everything had to be just right and the England coach seems to be like that.

Ray and Chris were no nonsense managers and I wouldn't want to cross Capello either. The players need to up their game on Friday and the manager must make sure they perform.