England - When is the real 'golden generation' going to begin?

As qualifying for thist years European Championship draws to a close, England boast the only perfect record in qualifying, with 10 wins from 10. A strong qualifying campaign is, for most teams, a sign of intent for the major tournament, however for England, its been quite the opposite on more occasions then most. The best example of this in recent years is perhaps the 2010 World Cup in south Africa, despite a very strong qualifying campaign and a new manager in Fabio Capello who had appeared to rejuvenate the three lions. However, just one win in the tournament and a 4-1 humbling by the Germans showed how far behind we appear to be compared to the rest of the top sides and that our strong qualifying counted for nothing! This underachievement at major tournaments has because a far too common occurrence for the nation which invented the sport, and is even worse when you consider the players who have pulled on the famous white shirt in the last 20+ years!

Since the turn of the millennium, the national team haven't progressed past the quarter finals in a single major competition, with many of those eliminations coming against side which we Englishmen compare ourselves to, but seems to be years ahead of England in terms of ability and progression.  One other thing that happened at the start of the 2000's was perhaps the worst thing that could have happened to the current crop of talent, that certain English side was declared as the 'golden generation' this put much unneeded pressure on the players, and made the poor performances at major tournaments an even more bitter pill to swallow. Players such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Michael Owen, John Terry and many many more players where tipped to lead the 1966 World Champions to glory, but under performed when it mattered most!

With countries such as Germany, Spain and France in the last 2 decades taking advantage of a generation of amazing talent to push themselves to the top of the footballing world, you have to wonder if the three lions are capable of achieving a similar task. When you consider the caliber of players to have played at Wembley and failed to deliver on the big stage in recent years, you have to wonder if our current crop of talent, who are seen as being not even half the side we had 10 years ago, have the slightest chance at competing next year in France or in future tournaments.

Lets not rule out the current squad without taking a look at the key members. Of course the highest goal scorer in the history of the national side is the current captain, Wayne Rooney, with 50 international goals. With Daniel Sturridge (when he's fit), Harry Kane and inform Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy adding more options to the England attack, the three lions certainly still have their bite! When you add in the attacking threat from the wings, with Raheem Sterling and Theo Walcott being the stand outs for those roles, England have got pace in abundance. The worry for this English side comes from the back, I would personally not put a single midfielder in the current England squad, into the side we fielded ten years ago, with the stand out player on form at the moment being Ross Barkley, who has been incredibly inconsistent in the past few seasons. With defenders such as Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling, Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne, Roy Hodgson can field a strong back four, but one which pales in comparison to English defenses of the past! One final positive is the strength between the sticks, Joe Hart has been a stand our goal keeper in the Premier League for years, and number two Jack Butland looks destined for greatness.

Despite not losing a single competitive game in 2015, I can't see our current crop of talent getting anywhere near the top spots in world football. In the future, a new generation may come along and push England towards greater heights but right now... It looks like we might be waiting a while for the true 'Golden Generation'.