Roberto Mancini has slammed the chaotic fixture list and claimed its draining nature is the major reason why England continually fail at major tournaments.

Manchester City’s manager is furious that his team must face Arsenal in a Carling Cup quarter-final on Tuesday night, having had little more than 48 hours to recover from a frenetic 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

Mancini will make 11 changes to his starting line-up but is so frustrated that he claimed he considered making a protest by fielding a team made up purely of ‘14 and 15-year-olds’.

It is a situation that has left the Italian bewildered and he believes England will continue to under-perform at World Cups and European Championships if the demand on players does not relent.

Not happy: Roberto Mancini has slammed the fixture list

‘We will change all the team because this is an incredible situation,’ said Mancini. ‘Arsenal played on Saturday, we play Sunday evening. Monday travel to London and then we play Tuesday night.

‘It is incredible. I think this is the reason why the national team arrive for European Championships, World Cups and they are failing. The players don’t have time to recover.’

Liverpool - who play Chelsea this evening - and City wanted their Barclays Premier League game brought forward by 24 hours, to give them more time to prepare for difficult last-eight matches.

But their request was turned down by the Premier League and the Football League because of TV commitments and, most significantly, as there was no space in the calendar.

Mancini added: ‘To play again in two days like this so soon after the Champions League is incredible. We should play with 11 young players, maybe 14 or 15 years old. To make a statement? Yes.

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