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Oliver Bierhoff feels that the number of foreigner players in the league is hampering England's national team.

Bierhoff will always be remembered as the man who won Euro 96 for the Germans with his golden goal against the Czech Republic at Wembley.

Now the former AC Milan striker is helping to plot a rare revenge mission for Germany, who are looking to atone for the 5-1 drubbing suffered at the hands of Sven-Goran Eriksson's side in Munich.

Since then, the Germans have gone on to reach one World Cup final, the semi-finals of another and the final of Euro 2008 - a tournament England did not even reach under the catastrophic charge of Steve McClaren.

It is a familiar story for the country which, by Bierhoff's own admission, boasts the best league in the world.

The problem is, most of the stars are foreign.

"I think the English league is the best league in the world, but the big clubs use a lot of foreign players," he said.

"You can see English clubs are well represented in the Champions League. But if you look at the statistics then at the end of the season the English players played fewer games in the competition than the German ones.

"This shows English football should also think about growing its own talent and giving the players support."

It is a familiar refrain from the likes of under-fire Football Association technical director Sir Trevor Brooking. But coming from someone so involved with the German set-up, it is maybe worth paying heed to.

It is not that Bierhoff believes the Three Lions are a lost cause.

With Fabio Capello in charge, he can sense a wind of change blowing through English ranks - and as Spain proved at Euro 2008, it is possible for losers to become winners.

"I wouldn't say you could predict England will always have problems in future - because Spain had a similar history before they went into Euro 2008," he reasons.

"The anger of not getting to the Euros means England want to do well in the World Cup - and with such an experienced coach in Fabio Capello, they will have a good team.

"Capello has a winning mentality. Already you can see he's doing very well and transforming his players."

Like England, Germany go into tomorrow's clash in Berlin's Olympic Stadium without a few big names.

Thorsten Frings has fallen out with coach Joachim Low, with Michael Ballack entering the battle on his friend's behalf.

Ballack - who has only just returned from a foot operation - had a face-to-face meeting with Low to try and patch up their differences.

The outcome has not totally satisfied the German media - even if, within the camp, a sense of calm has broken out.

Nevertheless, Low used a pre-dinner meeting with his players last night to ram home a few harsh realities.

"It was a special kind of team talk," said Bierhoff.

"It lasted 10 or 12 minutes where he explained just what the ground rules should be in terms of player behaviour.

"He told them in no uncertain terms how we think players should be behaving.

"It is not like Joachim has turned into the Vinnie Jones of Germany football. But it has had an impact on the players. If you want to call it a conflict, now it is done and dusted."

In praising the likes of Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger for their leadership qualities, Bierhoff might have been issuing a warning to Ballack not to take his status for granted.

A meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also offered the hosts an insight into matters of real importance.

Bierhoff is not downplaying a meeting with England, though - especially on a ground where, unbelievably, the visitors have not lost in seven previous clashes.

"Is that the only video they have?" smiled Bierhoff, when informed some English supporters still like to watch the recording of their Munich success.

"I was sitting on the bench that night, and it was a pretty bad experience for everyone. But, of course, we have a lot of other matches to remember - especially ones that ended in penalty kicks."