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England's golden generation



One of the most open and self-critical interviews I remember seeing from footballers.

Well worth the 10 minutes to watch
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Comments

  • edited November 2017
    certainly seems like the clique thing would have been a factor in the golden generation never living up to the promise
  • Their views on club v country - albeit subconsciously - reflect the parochial attitude of most fans these days.

    To be fair I've heard that this attitude has slowly changed over the more recent years and players are integrating better
  • What a load of old bollocks.The Spanish squad that won 3 tournaments in a row was made up of a number Barcelona and Real Madrid players - they didn’t seem too have a problem.

    It’s down to the national manager to knock this club culture nonsense on the head. Playing for your country should be just that. Never mind the club football for the time they are on International duty.

    The biggest case is you only need to look at Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos... the two absolutely hate each other when they play for Barcelona / Real Madrid yet even they've acknowledge they play well together when they come together for Spain because its for the good of their country
  • And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.
  • What a load of old bollocks.The Spanish squad that won 3 tournaments in a row was made up of a number Barcelona and Real Madrid players - they didn’t seem too have a problem.

    It’s down to the national manager to knock this club culture nonsense on the head. Playing for your country should be just that. Never mind the club football for the time they are on International duty.

    The biggest case is you only need to look at Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos... the two absolutely hate each other when they play for Barcelona / Real Madrid yet even they've acknowledge they play well together when they come together for Spain because its for the good of their country
    Exactly. English players always look for an excuse for their failings - admit it, you weren’t good enough for your country and performed at club level......where you were picking up £200k a week.
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  • edited November 2017
    The worst thing is they're now coming out with this honest assessment yet wont hesitate to moan about the current setup

    Am sorry but for me they've lost the ability to criticise any England performance now!!

    Seriously towards the end did Rio Ferdinand just say that the squad would be worried about getting beaten by PARAGUAY???
  • What a load of old bollocks.The Spanish squad that won 3 tournaments in a row was made up of a number Barcelona and Real Madrid players - they didn’t seem too have a problem.

    It’s down to the national manager to knock this club culture nonsense on the head. Playing for your country should be just that. Never mind the club football for the time they are on International duty.

    The biggest case is you only need to look at Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos... the two absolutely hate each other when they play for Barcelona / Real Madrid yet even they've acknowledge they play well together when they come together for Spain because its for the good of their country
    Exactly. English players always look for an excuse for their failings - admit it, you weren’t good enough for your country and performed at club level......where you were picking up £200k a week.
    Its also a case of personal pride over Club / Country almost

    At the end they're asked if they enjoyed playing for England and what the highlights were... Surely for Gerrard it should have been part of the England team that beat the Germans 5-1 for example yet all three simply discussed about the amount of caps they won and the goals they scored themselves - Its the issue with the current team too.. I look at Ali and Sterling (as it didnt seem to happen against Germany or Brazil when they were missing) yet even now there appears to be a few players who seem more interested in taking on the whole opposition and scoring themselves rather than working as a unit.
  • What a load of old bollocks.The Spanish squad that won 3 tournaments in a row was made up of a number Barcelona and Real Madrid players - they didn’t seem too have a problem.

    It’s down to the national manager to knock this club culture nonsense on the head. Playing for your country should be just that. Never mind the club football for the time they are on International duty.

    Not strictly true. Aside from Casillas and Ramos what other Madrid players were there? Alonso after he moved from Liverpool but can't think of many others. Their success was built around Barca's tiki taka style and the midfield of Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi. Add in Puyol, Pique, Alba, Fabregas, Pedro as well.

    Rio, Lampard and Gerrard more than anything seemed to point towards the lack of a style of football to play. Gerrard pretty much said it was just put 11 players out there and hope for the best. Spain had their playing style ready made.
  • edited November 2017

    What a load of old bollocks.The Spanish squad that won 3 tournaments in a row was made up of a number Barcelona and Real Madrid players - they didn’t seem too have a problem.

    It’s down to the national manager to knock this club culture nonsense on the head. Playing for your country should be just that. Never mind the club football for the time they are on International duty.

    Not strictly true. Aside from Casillas and Ramos what other Madrid players were there? Alonso after he moved from Liverpool but can't think of many others. Their success was built around Barca's tiki taka style and the midfield of Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi. Add in Puyol, Pique, Alba, Fabregas, Pedro as well.

    Rio, Lampard and Gerrard more than anything seemed to point towards the lack of a style of football to play. Gerrard pretty much said it was just put 11 players out there and hope for the best. Spain had their playing style ready made.
    Yeah... four Real Madrid players @ the 2010 World Cup compared to seven from Barcelona

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_squads#Spain

    Euro 2012 then had five from Real Madrid and again seven from Barcelona yet if you look at those teams its very much Real Madrid (Defence) / Barcelona (Attack) minded

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2012_squads#Spain
  • JiMMy 85 said:

    DRAddick said:

    And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.

    To be fair they did say it was a combination of factors. Personally I think the rigid formation was the biggest issue.

    The first choice 2002 squad was exceptional, I wish that tournament had been in Europe.
    The main factor being they weren't good enough at a world level. At that level the difference between great and world class and between failure and success is intelligence, mental strength and consistency. Three things our best players, and the English style of football in general, always lack compared to the top countries.
  • DRAddick said:

    JiMMy 85 said:

    DRAddick said:

    And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.

    To be fair they did say it was a combination of factors. Personally I think the rigid formation was the biggest issue.

    The first choice 2002 squad was exceptional, I wish that tournament had been in Europe.
    The main factor being they weren't good enough at a world level. At that level the difference between great and world class and between failure and success is intelligence, mental strength and consistency. Three things our best players, and the English style of football in general, always lack compared to the top countries.
    Disagree to an extent - we were easily good enough in 2004, but Sven's tendency to try to defend a 1-0 lead (familiar to Charlton fans) an invite pressure plus Rooney's injury in the game and our rubbishness at penalties cost us. We had the players to win that year.

  • edited November 2017
    DRAddick said:

    And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.

    At the same time there are winners of euros such as Greece and Portugal and other teams going deep into tournaments with half the talent England had. England should of won euro 96 and possibly 2004 and got to a world cup semi final.
    Mentality was a major factor as was luck in my opinion.

  • DRAddick said:

    And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.

    At the same time there are winners of euros such as Greece and Portugal and other teams going deep into tournaments with half the talent England had. England should of won euro 96 and possibly 2004 and got to a world cup semi final.
    Mentality was a major factor as was luck in my opinion.

    Have to hope the winning mentality established at youth levels will remain whilst playing senior football.
  • edited November 2017
    JiMMy 85 said:

    DRAddick said:

    And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.

    To be fair they did say it was a combination of factors. Personally I think the rigid formation was the biggest issue.

    The first choice 2002 squad was exceptional, I wish that tournament had been in Europe.
    Ironically one without Gerrard and Lampard as well.
  • The issue in 2002 was the fact we had a Goalkeeper who suffered from vertigo rather than the conditions being an issue
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  • DRAddick said:

    And there's me just thinking it's because they and English football Wasn't and isn't good enough at the top level.

    At the same time there are winners of euros such as Greece and Portugal and other teams going deep into tournaments with half the talent England had. England should of won euro 96 and possibly 2004 and got to a world cup semi final.
    Mentality was a major factor as was luck in my opinion.

    I agree mentality was/is a major factor. Those teams did the basics consistently well at that point and had the mental strength to be successful, something which we always lack. We've had several great players and arguably very decent teams. Look at Rooney as you mention. Been a great player and scored many world class goals, however I don't regard him as a world class player. When actually presented with a chance or half chance in a big game for England, he would usually fail to take it and that's the slim difference between international success and failure. Don't accept luck is a factor. We have not taken our chances and failed too many times for it too be bad luck.
  • It's a shame.

    World class players not patriotic enough to forget about the premier league for a few minutes.

    I like the honesty and what they are say...as it reflect what happened on the field of play.

    What an absolute shame.

    It was many many factors.
  • edited November 2017
    The saddest thing I took from that was that Ferdinand and Lampard were best friends for years but when they moved clubs they lost the ability to even talk to each other on England duty for fear of losing the edge in their club games.

    What a seriously sad way to live your life when your employment situation puts up barriers between long term friends.

    The sad truth is that many of the England players these days earn a fortune because they play in the richest league in the world but are average players by any true world class measure. Most of the Superstars in the Premier League are imports. If Brexit changes the work permit situation of overseas players we may not see another English club in a Champions League quarter final for decades. Not if the clubs have to rely on the English players that have been multi-millionaires in their teens.
  • The saddest thing I took from that was that Ferdinand and Lampard were best friends for years but when they moved clubs they lost the ability to even talk to each other inn england fury for fear of losing the edge in their club games.

    What a seriously sad way to live your life when your employment situation puts up barriers between long term friends.

    The sad truth is that many of the England players these days earn a fortune because they play in the richest league in the world but are average players by any true world class measure. Most of the Superstars in the Premier League are imports. If Brexit changes the work permit situation of overseas players we may not see another English club in a Champions League quarter final for decades. Not if the clubs have to rely on the English players that have been multi-millionaires in their teens.

    It might mean our home grown youngsters get more top flight 1st team action.
  • i do wonder how there called golden generation for winning f all.
  • i do wonder how there called golden generation for winning f all.

    Belgium appear to have the same tag themselves at the moment yet dont look like winning anything either
  • edited November 2017
    Felt quite sad watching that. Thought they were fairly honest about themselves, and the idea of them heading off in the team coach not quite together or sure about the best formation/ way to play was often sadly evident in their performances subsequently on the pitch. Maybe there was also a hint of the problem in their defence that they did at least get to the quarter finals. That was not enough for them to feel happy with. Or us. But that was how it planned out. It seems that other international set ups simply do it better than us, and that is a big factor in why we continue to over expect and often under achieve on the world stage.
  • The saddest thing I took from that was that Ferdinand and Lampard were best friends for years but when they moved clubs they lost the ability to even talk to each other inn england fury for fear of losing the edge in their club games.

    What a seriously sad way to live your life when your employment situation puts up barriers between long term friends.

    The sad truth is that many of the England players these days earn a fortune because they play in the richest league in the world but are average players by any true world class measure. Most of the Superstars in the Premier League are imports. If Brexit changes the work permit situation of overseas players we may not see another English club in a Champions League quarter final for decades. Not if the clubs have to rely on the English players that have been multi-millionaires in their teens.

    Brexit wont change anything for the richest KHA, including Premier League Football Clubs.
  • edited November 2017
    management is what i blame for the failure of the national team,

    mclaren
    capello
    erikson

    all useless

    i was gutted when allardyce had to go becuase of his stupidity as for the 1st time in a while thought we could be heading in the right direction
  • management is what i blame for the failure of the national team,

    mclaren
    capello
    erikson

    all useless

    i was gutted when allardyce had to go becuase of his stupidity as for the 1st time in a while thought we could be heading in the right direction

    I absolutely hated Capello.
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