Former Wales assistant coach Raymond Verheijen has labelled England manager Roy Hodgson as a 'dinosaur' who has made himself look stupid.
In the wake of the ongoing row over Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling's tiredness, Hodgson and Reds boss Brendan Rodgers have been told to "stop sniping" at each other over players by former striker Gary Lineker.
"It's time Roy Hodgson and Brendan Rodgers stopped sniping. It's at their player's expense," Lineker, second on the list of England's all-time goalscorers, tweeted.
However, the outspoken Verheijen has ridiculed the national team boss after Hodgson questioned Liverpool's fitness regime, which is based on a two-day recovery system for the likes of Sterling and Daniel Sturridge - who has not played since being injured in training on international duty last month.
The Dutchman was highly critical of Hodgson after he declared: "I don't think there is a lot of medical evidence to support the 'two-day recovery'."
"England manager Roy Hodgson once again made himself look extremely stupid. He is the perfect example of a typical uneducated English coach," Verheijen, who has also worked with Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City and the Netherlands, wrote on Twitter.
"Embarrassing to see dinosaur Hodgson questioning the fitness regime of the forward thinking manager Brendan Rodgers.
"Roy Hodgson's incompetence must be frustrating for educated managers like Brendan Rodgers who travelled the world."
Sterling reported some signs of tiredness before England's Euro 2016 qualifier in Estonia and was left out of the starting line-up, although he came off the bench to win the free-kick from which Wayne Rooney scored the only goal.
Afterwards Hodgson put himself at odds with Liverpool once again by dismissing the Reds' medical team's individually-tailored programmes which allows pacy players like Sterling and Sturridge to lower intensity recovery for two days after a match.
"Certainly, the Germans who you (the media) admire so much - they don't do it. That is for certain," said Hodgson.
"I would expect players not to take it for granted that there will be two-day recoveries."
Verheijen, though, went into precise details as to why Sterling should be treated differently.
"If explosive players do not get extra recovery time and are treated in the same way as other players, they accumulate fatigue in their body"- Raymond Verheijen
"Firstly, 19-year old players do not have a fully matured body yet so for them the game demands are higher and will develop much more fatigue," wrote the Dutchman, who still acts as consultant for several national football associations and clubs.
"Young players who develop more fatigue during the game need longer time to get rid of this fatigue otherwise they accumulate fatigue in body.
"Secondly, Sterling is not only a young but also an explosive player. They have many fast muscle fibres compared to less explosive players.
"Fast muscle fibres recover slower compared to slow muscle fibres because less blood & oxygen is running through these fast muscle fibres.
"If explosive players do not get extra recovery time and are treated in the same way as other players, they accumulate fatigue in their body.
"Accumulation of fatigue due to insufficient recovery makes the nervous system slower. The signal from brain to muscles travel slower
"If the signal from the brain arrives later in the muscles this means the brain has less control over body during explosive football actions.
"So there's much evidence that insufficient recovery, accumulation of fatigue & slower nervous system are dramatically increasing injury risk."
Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has come out in support of the England manager over the issue.
The 39-year-old, who made 66 appearances for his country from 1997 to 2004, pondered whether pressure from Rodgers could have been behind Sterling's request - but said he hoped that was not the case.
He wrote in his column in the Independent: "I really hope that there has been no pressure placed on him by Rodgers or anyone at his club to say that he was feeling tired or heavy-legged on Saturday.
"I really hope that his decision to tell Hodgson that he was not at his best was his, and his alone.
"I know that Hodgson and his staff would do nothing to jeopardise the fitness of the players, whatever club the happen to play for.
"I know that they take the greatest care over them. Everything is done in the interests of the player, above all."
Scholes points to the fact that Rodgers spoke of his frustration at Hodgson's refusal to adopt the two-day recovery method for Sturridge last month after he pulled a thigh muscle during a sprint at an England training session.
He added: "That injury to Daniel Sturridge (in training two days after the Norway friendly) was not Hodgson's fault. It could have happened to any player from any club.
"What has created the problem has been Rodgers complaining about the two-day recovery process in the aftermath of the injury.
"England were preparing for a major game, their first Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland in Basle.
"I can understand the reluctance some managers have over friendlies but this was different. By bringing up the two-day recovery issue, Rodgers made things much more difficult.
"Being England manager is hard enough without the added obligation to accommodate every club's different recovery plans."
