Few years after the golden generation of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes retired and left behind unfulfilled collective potentials at the international, Gareth Southgate’s current side appear not to be faring better either.

On the back of the disappointing Euro 2012 overseen by Roy Hogdson, Sam Allardyce’s scandal-terminated run and Southgate’s takeover, the Three Lions appear to be different from the so called golden generation in terms of personnel and at the same time mirror challenges that befell such era.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney remains the last piece of leftover from star studded era. An era that saw a group of talented English professionals thrive seamlessly at club level yet struggled to gel together once converged for a major tournament.

Since taking over mid last year the 46-year old has managed to forge a new identity on the Three Lions and although they have managed to pick up decent results in their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, the perennial inability to measure up to the A-grade teams of Europe and the rest of the world persists. Continue reading →