Sir Alex Ferguson believes England's players are being suffocated by the weight of expectation at the World Cup.

Fergie said he sensed there was tension in the England camp even before the dismal 0-0 draw with Algeria, when he spoke with striker Wayne Rooney on the telephone last week.

"I just get a feeling that the expectation is affecting the England team," said Fergie. "Sometimes the expectation can be debilitating in terms of getting the players to perform to the levels required to get through this group.

"I had that feeling. I spoke to Wayne Rooney last week and just said 'relax and enjoy it'. I just sensed there was tension in and around the camp from what I was hearing, although I didn't watch the Algeria game, as I was out with friends."

And the Manchester United boss claimed England will always struggle at major tournaments until the Premier League introduce a mid-season break, because the players are exhausted at the end of every campaign.

"The season we have in Europe, particularly in England, is tough," said Fergie. "The players all met up about 3-4 days after the season finished and they've been together for most of that time, after a long, hard season.

"It's a real task to ask players to perform at the best level they can achieve after the season in England. Germany always take that month-long break in January and they always seem to do better in World Cups than anyone ever expects.

"Even though they are not as strong as German teams in the past, they still manage to do something in World Cups. It's been a disappointing World Cup, but I had a feeling it would be. I've been disappointed with the quality levels, I have to say. The Mexico and France game was interesting, but I haven't been impressed at all."

New Manchester United signing Javier Hernandez scored for Mexico in their 2-0 win over France and Fergie said: "He did very well. He showed good movement, is quick and sees space very well. I was very pleased with his performance."

Fergie also claimed he was not surprised by the turmoil and internal divisions within the France squad which look to have wrecked their World Cup campaign. "That's terrible," said Fergie, who was speaking to New York-based radio station Sirius XM.

"I didn't expect them to do well, but I expected better than what we've seen. But there seems to be a lot of disharmony in the camp. I think it was bad preparation for the players to know that Raymond Domenech was leaving and they know that Laurent Blanc is going to be coming in after the World Cup.

"I thought they should have brought Blanc along as an assistant or to just oversee. Just to get a look, and maybe he would have had a calming influence and brought a bit of harmony into the squad too.

"You won't get the same harmony [in an international squad] because you don't have players every day. With a club, you see them every day and you get to know their personalities. International managers don't have that and that's the handicap they have."