We're now rapidly approaching this summer's World Cup Finals in Russia, assuming it doesn't all get called off due to WW3 (with Russia starring as the 'baddies'), and 12 years have passed since England's golden generation rocked up in Germany, again failing to impress before Rooney stamped on someone, got sent off and we crashed out on penalties (again...). But let's see how the current generation, which I'm going to shoehorn into a 4-4-2, compares to the golden generation.
Goalkeeper. Jack Butland vs Paul Robinson
Neither of these goalies fill be with confidence as an England supporter but this is what we're all stuck with. How on earth Paul Robinson is listed as being part of 'the golden generation' is beyond me. Although he never really established himself other than his involvement in the 20006 World Cup. His mistake in Euro 2008 qualifying against Croatia lost him his place in the England set-up, and to my knowledge he never returned.
Butland on the other hand has never had the chance to have a shocker in an England shirt. The Stoke number one has been second fiddle to Joe Hart for a while now, and now Hart is considered 'past it' Butland has competition from Pickford for the number one shirt. A good World Cup for either could see them go on to be the undisputed number one for sometime.
In his time, Robinson was fairly uninspiring and never set the world alight, Butland is likely to be the same but his shotstopping and ability to come for crosses is exemplary.
Right Back. Kyle Walker vs Gary Neville
It's hard to call this one. The position of fullback has changed so much in the last decade. Given the choice of prime Neville and prime Walker, I'd go for the Man United legend all day. Neville is the epitome of solid defenders and the best wingers always struggle against him.
Walker has recently proven his worth in two additional positions, as a centre-back for \England, and a Wingback for his clubs. The role allowed us to see Walker's ability to fire a diagonal ball into the channels with ease. An impressive trait to have. As a fullback or wingback, his pace does him brilliantly, getting up and down the flank to cross on the overlap.
Unfortunately for the man from Sheffield, Gary Neville isn't so easy to be better than, as his 89 England caps shows all of his rivals. Can you name another England right back from that era? I definitely can't.
Left Back. Danny Rose vs Ashley Cole
Although almost every English person hates Cole for what he did to his ex wife Cheryl, the nations sweetheart, it is hard to deny that during his career Cole was easily the best Left Back in the world. The man with 100+ England caps even managed to get this many caps despite competition from other top left backs, such as Wayne Bridge. Cole was similar to how Kyle Walker and Danny Rose play in the modern era, arguably one of the pioneers of the Wingback role. He regressed slightly in his later years, but who doesn't?
As stated previously, Danny Rose is very similar to Ashley Cole. The Yorkshireman is hard done by that he is up against other strong leftbacks in Bertrand, Shaw and Young. If he were to establish himself in the coming years he could be seen in the same light we now see Cole. But as he is getting ever closer to 30 he needs to hurry up and establish himself.
 |
| Cole amassed 107 caps for England before retirement. |
Centre Back. Stones and Cahill vs Terry and Ferdinand
This is a difficult one to call really. Cahill was a late bloomer but he and Terry are more or less the same player. I think I'd take Cahill just because he's less of a shithouse... Ya know, we don't hear about Cahill sleeping with his teamates partners or being racist do we?
Stones and Ferdinand are again very similar, both top ball players and good defenders. Ferdinand edges this one because he was an all time colossus for England and Man United. Give young stones a few more years to develop and he'll challenge Ferdinand even further and potentially surpass him.
As a pair you can't look past Terry and Ferdinand, a top pairing. That was until Terry was accused of being racist by Ferdinand's brother... Mind you, they've both had a chequered past. What with Ferdinand missing a drugs test and being banned for a while.
Right Wing. Raheem Sterling vs David Beckham
No contest here at all. Becks comes out top. When Sterling carries his nation to a World Cup on his own then we'll talk. I'm having none of it.
Becks could it all, he was the best crosser of the ball England has ever seen, his set pieces were a work of art and his leadership set him atop of all the players of this generation. The consummate pro, that was until he got himself sent of against Argentina at France 98. We'll forgive him of that though.
Sterling is in his mid twenties now and is only just maturing into a decent player. It's not really good enough. He has never performed for England either. I've said it time and time again, he's not that good. Now he's got a top coach at Club level we have seen an improvement. But he's been no better than Andros Townsend and Wilf Zaha in recent seasons. What's the fuss?
 |
| The man that was everyone's crush, even more so when he did this/ |
Left Wing. Adam Lallana vs Joe Cole
I've put these two both on the left wing because that' where they'd be shoe-horned into this side. Cole frequently played on the left of midfield for England, fitting around the strength of England's Central players, Lallana usually has the same problem.
I'd argue that Lallana brings more to the table that Joe Cole does. Although in their prime they were both extraordinary players, Cole Struggled once leaving Chelsea, and Lallana is also on the decline. Both players have been plagued by injuries throughout their careers and that has definitely hampered their careers.
I think I'd rather have Lallana in my side because of his abilities on the ball and the fact he can also be a top central player if needs be. Cole is much more attacking minded, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just what i'm using to justify my selection.
Centre Mid. Eric Dier and Dele Alli vs Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
The two best all round central midfielders England has ever produced. Both could play in a deep lying role, making the play, scoring the goals and winning possession back from the opposition. They're both very good players, but they never managed to make it work together. On the other hand, Dier and Alli seem to gel as a pair. One sits back and dominates the deeper areas of play with crunching challenges and raking diagonal balls, the other can operate just off the striker in a shadow role, and create moves from there. Always able to beat a man, Alli is another top player. As pair i'd rather have Dier and Alli because they can actually work together.
As all round players though, Lampard is probably easiest to compare to Alli, as the goalscorer. Lamps is the Premier League's all time top scoring midfielder, Alli has some work to do on that front. Lamps scored a lot of goals for Chelsea but never really scored for the three lions. Alli is yet to start scoring for England on a regular basis as well, so who turns into the better midfielder is still up in the air.
Gerrard was my hero growing up. He could do it all, but Dier matches him in almost all areas. Both take a good freekick, both are good leaders, both are not scared to put their bodies on the line for their teams, both are solid defensively but the one thing that drags Gerrard clear as the better player is that he gets right up there and scores a few off his own back. Gerrard is the main man.
Strikers. Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane vs Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen
This is a simple one for me. Rashford isn't ready to be compared to England's top goalscorer ever. Not quite yet anyway... Kane is by far and away better than Michael Owen. Owen relied on his pace, Kane has everything in his locker.
Rashford, all being well will be up there when he's older, provided he plays in the correct club position, rather than out on the wing. To do that, he may have to leave Man United...
Kane needs to stay in England, if he goes off to Real Madrid and plays second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo his development will only be hindered. He needs to stay fit and keep scoring and he'll probably be up there with the World's greatest Forwards.
 |
| Kane, England's current top boy. |
That'll do for this post. It's a bit of a ramble really, probably shite, As ever please feel free to share and comment.
Until Next Time.
Craig
