Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard engaged in an excellent discussion about why their generation of England players failed to achieve success with the national team.
England’s so-called “golden generation” reached three successive quarter-finals in major tournaments – at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Euro 2004 – but failed to get any further, or transfer their club success to the international stage. It’s probably unfair to deem their inability to win a tournament as a “failure”, but there’s also no doubt that the talented England team should have progressed further in at least one of those tournaments.
Between 2000 and 2008, they had some genuinely brilliant players such as Paul Scholes, Ashley Cole, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, as well as Ferdinand, Lampard and Gerrard.
There have been several theories about why England didn’t win a tournament during that period, and it is too simplistic blame their exits on the “lottery” of a penalty shoot-out, despite the fact England lost two to Portugal. Ferdinand, Lampard and Gerrard touched on the reasons for the team coming up short in a discussion on BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight on Saturday evening.
Ferdinand’s admission that he and Lampard stopped speaking to each other during their careers, despite being friends and teammates as teenagers at West Ham, was the starting point for the discussion. Rio claimed that his desire to achieve success for Manchester United drove a wedge between him and the Chelsea midfielder, and the rivalry between the Premier League clubs meant that England lacked a strong team spirit.
Carrick's international career tells you everything you need to know about the England team writes @RobRedmond10 https://t.co/9KuIhS63c8
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) March 5, 2017
The trio also touched on the tactical failings of the team, and how the their rigid 4-4-2 formation let them down when they came up against sides that played with an extra midfielder.
They all speak in a very articulated manner, and there are no excuses offered. It’s a great watch.
